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Paul McCartney
Photo by Jim Dyson/Getty Images

‘You’re supposed to protect us’: Paul McCartney issues dire warning to government bodies not taking AI theft seriously

Paul speaks for the people!

Paul McCartney has added his name to the growing list of artists that are taking a stand against AI and the threat it poses to the creative industry. 

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The British Government is considering changes to copyright laws that would allow tech firms to use material to train artificial intelligence but the former Beatle has urged politicians not to allow such changes to occur. Speaking to the BBC, McCartney expressed concerns that AI could have a seriously negative impact on the livelihood of artists as they would no longer be able to control how their work is used.

“You get young guys, girls, coming up, and they write a beautiful song, and they don’t own it… They don’t have anything to do with it. And anyone who wants can just rip it off.”

McCartney blasted the government for the supposed plans saying: “We’re the people, you’re the government! You’re supposed to protect us. That’s your job.” The majority of people seem to agree with McCartney’s stance, according to a survey conducted by business.yougov.com, 55% of Americans are concerned that AI infringes on copyright laws.

While it’s uncertain whether the plans to change copyright will go through, it’s understandably causing a great deal of frustration for artists who fear AI art could soon replace human art. We’ve already seen some instances where AI has been used in small ways such as the intro to Marvel’s Secret Invasion, as well as certain parts of the recent Oscar contender The Brutalist

Could we eventually see entire projects created without any human input? Bear in mind, this would all come off the backs of the humans who created the art the AI was trained off of in the first place. Shouldn’t artists have a say or at least receive fair pay for their contributions?

The new laws being considered would give tech firms access to copyrighted works without having to respect copyright allowing generative AIs to data mine the material. While the proposal would allow artists to opt out, critics believe that it would not be feasible for an artist to withdraw their consent from all the different AI services that are available. This could lead to a huge shift in the music industry, and not necessarily for the better.

McCartney did admit that AI does have some practical use in our modern world as it was recently used to extract John Lennon’s vocals from an old demo, “We took an old cassette of John’s and cleaned his voice up… So it has its uses.” However, he emphasized that it should not be used to “rip creative people off.” 

More than anything, it seems Paul McCartney wants to see that the people who put in the work and effort receive fair pay and the ability to control how their own work is used. Up until now that’s been a no-brainer, but AI tech firms seek to circumvent the rights of the artist while simultaneously profiting off of their work.


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