Universal Music Group CEO & chairman Sir Lucian Grainge has reaffirmed his commitment to human artistry amid the current debate about AI protections for music.
Sir Lucian joined with other major label heads last week as part of a Daily Mail campaign against government proposals on artificial intelligence, which would provide an exception to copyright law on AI training for commercial purposes w.
As the government consultation concluded, the Make It Fair campaign launched across the media – aligned with the music industry – to push back against the proposals, which would require artists and rights-holders to formally opt out of the AI training process.
The Make It Fair campaign was developed to raise awareness among the British public about the “existential threat” posed to the creative industries from generative AI models, many of which scrape creative content from the internet without permission, acknowledgement and without payment.
In a new op-ed for The Times today (February 28), Sir Lucian Grainge acknowledged that AI can “enhance creativity”, but warned of the potential for the benefits of technology to go awry due to “unforeseen consequences, the abdication of moral responsibility or a failure of leaders to establish reasonable public safeguards”.
Streesing the need for "appropriate guardrails", he wrote: "The choices we make about AI now – ethical, legal and technological – will reverberate for decades to come."
“AI will transform society, but how it transforms society is up to us,” Sir Lucian added. “That’s why governments, industries and creators must work in harmony, seeking fairness and compromise to chart a path toward responsible AI.”
The UMG boss also noted the impact of the ‘silent album’ campaign by artists against AI proposals, which raised key questions: “How do we best protect creative and imaginative invention, and harness the power of new technology without that technology harnessing us? How do we best protect the incentives that reward creative people for their labour and genius? And who wins or loses if we change the rules of the game?”
Following the launch of the Make It Fair campaign, The Guardian has since reported that the government is planning to offer concessions, according to sources.
A government spokesperson said: “No decisions will be taken until we are absolutely confident we have a practical plan that delivers each of our objectives, including increased control for rights holders to help them easily license their content, enabling lawful access to material to train world-leading AI models in the UK, and building greater transparency over material being used.”
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