In April, a computer-generated song based on The Weeknd and Drake went popular, demonstrating how adept AI may be at plagiarizing famous musicians. The Recording Academy, the organiaztion that decides on and oversees the annual Grammy Awards, is now establishing new guidelines for AI’s participation in the prestigious honor.
Harvey Mason, Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, presented some perplexing new guidelines for appropriate usage of AI. AI-assisted music can be submitted, but Mason Jr. claimed that only humans, who must have “contributed heavily,” will actually be recognized. For instance, in a category honouring songwriting, such as Song of the Year, the majority of the song would have to be created by a human author, not a text-based generative AI like ChatGPT. The only performer that can be considered for an award in performance categories like Best Pop Duo/Group Performance is a person. Hatsune Miku, sorry.
It’s significant because AI will unquestionably play a role in determining the direction of our sector’s future. It is unacceptable, according to Mason Jr., to let it catch you off guard and avoid dealing with it. We must thus begin making plans in light of it and considering what it implies for us. How can we modify in order to accommodate? How can we establish guidelines and standards? As it relates to our sector, there are several issues that need to be resolved with AI.
Recently, AI has become more prominent in the music industry. One of the biggest record labels, Universal Music Group, has asked streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music to restrict AI’s access to music on different platforms in an effort to prevent the technology from gathering data from and training itself on copyrighted content. At the same time, a dishonest person who wishes to remain unnamed is said to have profited thousands of dollars by selling AI-generated Frank Ocean music on Discord.
The Recording Academy is not the only arts organization attempting to limit the influence of artificial intelligence in the work of its members. Last month, the Writers Guild of America went on strike, with one of the union’s central convictions being the inclusion of AI in Hollywood. More precisely, the WGA wishes to restrict the use of AI chatbots such as ChatGPT in writers’ rooms, ensuring that they are a tool to be used rather than a tool to churn out full scripts.
