Several artists, including Sam Smith, have banded together to resist artificial intelligence.

He was also joined by Katy Perry

While voice cloning and deep fakes have the potential to ruin musicians’ careers, AI does have a darker side.

Now, over 200 well-known performers—among them Katy Perry, Sam Smith, Nicki Minaj, and Jon Bon Jovi—have banded together to attempt to compel change.

In addition to fighting for musicians’, performers’, and composers’ rights in the digital sphere through the Artist Rights Alliance, these artists have penned a critical open letter pleading with AI businesses to honor human artistry and music.

“Using copyright-protected material without authorization for the training of AI” and “using AI-generated noise to dilute artist royalty pools” are their two main grounds of contention.

Sabotage creativity

Jen Jacobsen, chief executive officer of Ara, stated: “In the world of streaming, working musicians already struggle to make ends meet; now they have to contend with an onslaught of AI-generated noise.”

“The entire music ecosystem—for both artists and fans—will be devalued by the unethical use of generative AI to replace human artists.”

The musicians, who also include the estates of Frank Sinatra and Bob Marley, acknowledged in the letter that they understood the benefits of technological advancements but expressed a desire to attempt to stay ahead of the curve before it cost them their jobs.

They wrote: “Make no mistake: we believe that, when 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.

“Unfortunately, some platforms and developers are employing AI to sabotage creativity and undermine artists, songwriters, musicians and rightholders.”

They continued: “We must protect against the predatory use of AI to steal professional artists’ voices and likenesses, violate creators’ rights, and destroy the music ecosystem.

“We call on all digital music platforms and music- based 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.”

The move comes just over a week after the British Phonographic Industry sent a legal letter to Voicify, a start-up which produces songs imitating the voices of artists including Rihanna and Amy Winehouse.

The BPI accused it of infringing copyright by allegedly using copyrighted works to create the tech which can mimic voices.

This open letter will throw serious weight behind the cause.

It’s not an easy fight, due to the limitless scope of AI.

But if enough stars continue to speak out, they have a decent chance of getting people to listen.

Jon Bon Jovi is one of the stars who has signed the letterCredit: Getty

The roster of names also includes rapper Nicki MinajCredit: Getty

It comes amid a legal challenge to generative AI in music