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Those TikToks of Spongebob covering Summertime Sadness or Shrek belting the Eye of the Tiger aren\u2019t just annoying, they\u2019re also a potential blow to the music industry. That\u2019s at least if you care about what top singers have to say on the matter. In what would make for a killer but confusing festival lineup, more than 200 artists signed an open letter<\/a> pleading with tech platforms to monitor AI\u2019s infringement on the creative arts.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nicki Minaj, the estate of Bob Marley, Smokey Robinson, Sheryl Crow, and other heavy hitters like Elvis Costello, and Norah Jones were among the signatories of the letter written by the Artist Rights Alliance. As AI shoots off<\/a>, people from the office<\/a> to the world of Hollywood<\/a> have voiced concerns about how unmonitored AI will affect their industries and the world at large. The music industry is no exception, as AI\u2019s infiltration has sparked debates regarding the ethics and legality of the wave of mimicry<\/a>\u00a0 sweeping artists\u2019 catalogs. It\u2019s not the first time musicians have pushed back against AI<\/a>, but now stars are getting more pointed, and calling Silicon Valley out specifically. \u201cThis assault on human creativity must be stopped,\u201d says the letter, calling for protection from AI.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen used irresponsibly, AI poses enormous threats to our ability to protect our privacy, our identities, our music and our livelihoods,\u201d states the petition. \u201cSome of the biggest and most powerful companies are, without permission, using our work to train AI models.\u201d The artists note that this concentrated plan to replace musicians with AI-created songs will \u201csubstantially dilute the royalty pools,\u201d further destabilizing many working musicians who are already struggling to stay afloat<\/a>. In short, they warn of a future that is \u201ccatastrophic.\u201d<\/p>\n The movie industry has also recently fought against AI\u2019s invasion, as SAG-AFTRA remained on strike and held off signing a contract until what was known as the \u201czombie clause<\/a>,\u201d wherein an actor\u2019s likeness would be scanned and used in future projects, was finalized. The union fought for language that would need actors\u2019 consent, require payment for their scanned likeness, and install sanctions for using the likeness of celebrities passed such as getting the estate\u2019s sign-off.<\/p>\n The letter comes just after news spread that ChatGPT creators OpenAI now have a voice-cloning <\/a>tool that needs only a 15-second sample of audio to replicate a person\u2019s voice. OpenAI has held back on publicly releasing the technology due to safety concerns ahead of the election.\u00a0<\/p>\n The pledge\u2019s authors, speaking directly to the tech world, ask for similar clauses to those achieved in SAG-AFTRA\u2019s agreement. \u201cWe call on all AI developers, technology companies, platforms and digital music services to pledge that they will not develop or deploy AI music- generation technology, content or tools that undermine or replace the human artistry of songwriters and artists or deny us fair compensation for our work,\u201d say the artists, citing concerns about how AI could \u201cinfringe upon and devalue the rights\u201d of musicians. A couple of the signatories have passed away, as the estates of Bob Marley and Frank Sinatra signed said letter. Of course, these artists have a larger discography and are likely more ripe for being zombified in some Coachella performance like Tupac<\/a> or just subjected to AI mimicry.\u00a0<\/p>\n But artists aren\u2019t outright asking for AI to stop; that\u2019s likely fruitless anyway. The signatories clarify that \u201cwhen used responsibly, AI has enormous potential to advance human creativity and in a manner that enables the development and growth of new and exciting experiences for music fans everywhere.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re not thinking about legislation here,\u201d Jen Jacobsen, executive director of The Artist Rights Alliance, told Axios<\/a>. Rather they\u2019re \u201ccalling on our technology and digital partners to work with us to make this a responsible marketplace.\u201d A couple of years ago, the founder of generative AI firm Midjourney, David Holz, predicted to Forbes<\/a> that this AI creep into artistry could go two ways. \u201cOne way is to try to provide the same level of content that people consume at a lower price,\u201d he said, and \u201cthe other way to go about it is to build wildly better content at the prices that we\u2019re already willing to spend.\u201d Adding that consumers will likely choose better instead of\u00a0 cheaper content, he explains that \u201csome people will try to cut artists out. They will try to make something similar at a lower cost, and I think they will fail in the market\u201d<\/p>\n And we\u2019re entering greyer areas with every AI development that stirs unprecedented legal debates.\u201cAnyone who tells you that the legal implications are clear, one way or the other, is making stuff up,\u201d Neil Turkewitz, a former Recording Industry Association of America executive and leading expert on generative AI, told Fortune\u2019s<\/em><\/a> Jeremy Kahn. So far, Tennessee<\/a> was the first state to block this development, as Governor Bill Lee signed off on legislation in March that was designed to protect musicians\u2019 intellectual property against AI\u2019s invasion.\u00a0<\/p>\n Without many legal hurdles, software developers have taken to the ground running. In the same Forbes interview, Holz admitted Midjourney didn\u2019t ask for permission from artists to use their work. \u201cThere isn\u2019t really a way to get a hundred million images and know where they\u2019re coming from,\u201d he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n That type of behavior appears to be not isolated to the world of visual arts. \u201cUnfortunately, some platforms and developers are employing AI to sabotage creativity and undermine artists, songwriters, musicians and rightsholders,\u201d says the letter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nSubscribe to the CEO Daily newsletter to get the CEO perspective on the biggest headlines in business. Sign up<\/a> for free.<\/div>\n