In a disturbing revelation, Taylor Swift has become the latest victim of AI-generated impersonation, a growing issue that strikes at the heart of the music industry and raises broader ethical concerns. The incident, involving the circulation of explicit AI-generated images of Swift on social media, underscores the urgent need for regulatory measures and a re-evaluation of the ethical use of AI technology.
The music industry, where AI has long been used for tasks such as audio clean-up, copyright breach detection, and consumer trend prediction, is now confronting the challenges posed by the rapid advancement of AI. As the chair of UK Music, I am deeply invested in seeing our sector thrive, contributing even more than its current £6.7 billion annual economic input. Yet, with the potential of AI comes significant challenges.
AI's supportive role, exemplified by Sir Paul McCartney's use of it for stem separation in a Beatles song, contrasts starkly with its misuse in the Taylor Swift case. Here, AI was deployed not for creative enhancement but to create harmful, explicit content, violating the artist's rights and dignity.
AI-generated works, while technologically impressive, essentially replicate music made by human creators, raising serious intellectual property concerns. The use of copyrighted music to train AI without consent, as seen in some overseas businesses, leads to significant revenue loss for creators and the UK economy.
The exploitation of Swift's image and voice is a stark warning. Renowned artists like Drake, Nick Cave, and Johnny Marr have voiced their concerns over AI-generated fakes that not only misrepresent them but also rob them of rightful income. This issue transcends false endorsement, touching upon the fundamental right of artists to control their image and voice.
Our response must be robust and proactive. There's a pressing need for clear laws to protect artists against such misappropriation and for stringent copyright rules and regulations governing AI use. This includes enforcing proper record-keeping, labelling of AI-generated music, and ensuring safeguards for the personality and image rights of songwriters and artists.
The impact of AI extends beyond music to encompass publishing, journalism, film, television, and other creative sectors. The lessons learned from the rise of MP3s and the surge in illegal downloading demonstrate the detrimental effects of not staying ahead of emerging technologies on creators' incomes.
The situation involving Taylor Swift is a critical wake-up call. First, they came for the artists, creating deep fakes and misrepresenting their identities. If left unchecked, this technology could next target politicians, manipulating public perception and disrupting democratic processes during elections. It's time for the government and parliament to step in and address this burgeoning issue, ensuring that AI develops in a way that supports and respects the integrity of all sectors affected.
Extract of the week
📚 Jon Cruddas & RH Tawney: Echoes of Ethical Socialism
I wrote about Jon Cruddas last week and have continued reading his book, A Century of Labour. The more I read, the more Jon reminds me of the social historian and ethical socialist RH Tawney. Tawney, 'the Saint of Socialism', dominated the 1920s and Labour's first forays into power and government. Richard Crossman described Tawney’s book, The Acquisitive Society (1920), as his 'Socialist Bible'.
Tawney wrestled with many political traditions to synthesise them into a cogent political programme. Cruddas is attempting the same. I admire the intellectual struggle, but it will fail. There's no defeat in attempting it, though. If modern Labour has a problem, it's not a failure to synthesise strands of thought; it's a failure to recognise that Marxism and Democratic Socialism cannot exist in the same party. That's for another time, though.
🔄 From Pressure Cookers to Air Fryers: The Weight of Materialism
What really struck me about reading this passage from Tawney’s diary in 1912 was not that he was obviously formulating a view that capitalism leads to aimless production and insatiable acquisitiveness long before publishing his book, what today we would call senseless materialism, but that he should be the Guru of the modern decluttering movement! He got there a century before Marie Kondo.
We are weighed down with stuff. Too much, and it's a burden. We vest material things with memories or potential value and hoard. In the 1970s, everyone desired a pressure cooker; in the 1980s, everyone coveted a microwave and a Breville toasty maker; and today, we all want blooming air fryers.
💚 The Green Dilemma: Ideals vs Realities
This generation of green warriors knows this, but many react to capitalism not by trying to reform it but by accommodating it. (Yes, I know a minority want to overthrow it too).
Look at the FiRe movement (Financially independent, Retired early). I admire these guys for rejecting bigger mortgages, faster cars, and a kitchen full of ice cream makers and blenders, but their role model is Warren Buffet, for f***'s sake. Don't get me wrong, his simple message is good: save more money than you spend, invest in tracker funds and let compounding do the rest, but his favourite company is Coca-Cola! Get real Greta Thunberg lovers.
While I'm having a rant, here's the other thing. I recently read a poll that put the Green Party at 9%. That's nearly 1 in 10 people saying they'll vote Green at the next General election. I suspect Green voters are pretty well-informed, concerned people.
They likely know only two outcomes at the next general election: Prime Minister Starmer or Prime Minister Sunak. Despite this, they will vote green knowing that Rishi Sunak is busy building roads and licensing the sinking oil wells in the North Sea….and, and… anyway, rant over.
Here’s the quote:
RH Tawney, From Diary, June 1912
The greatest mistake that we make with our own lives is to snatch at the particular objects we desire... If we realized the riches that lie within every one of us we should know that we can afford to be spendthrift of nine-tenths of the possessions which we treasure; success, praise, and good opinion among men, achievements and still more material well. being ... Never be afraid of throwing away what you have. If you can throw it away it is not really yours. If it is really yours you cannot throw it away. And you may be certain that if you throw it away, whatever in you is greater than you will produce something in its place. Never be afraid of pruning your branches. Trust the future and take risks. In moral, as in economic affairs, the rash man is he who does not speculate.
We do miss people like Tawney. He had a patience and generosity of spirit. And next time I fill a box of worthless belongings for the charity shop, I’ll think of him.
Poem of the Week
We’re sometimes so busy scrolling for mindfulness tips on Instagram that we miss the wonder of the world. This week, photographing my morning cup of coffee for the daily Insta story, I looked up, and there was the Robin on my fence, nearly forty feet away. Such a tiny thing, but I could see its chest beating like a bass drum. It took me to the poem, Primary Wonder.
Carl Sagan fondly reminded us that we are tiny specs of carbon amongst a 100 billion galaxies. Despite obscurity in the grand vastness, we delude ourselves that we are unique.
Denise Levertov’s poem reminds us to find the mystery of the world in our daily lives. Whatever creator produced the beating heart of a garden Robin in West Yorkshire has majesty beyond imagination.
Primary Wonder by Denise Levertov
Days pass when I forget the mystery.
Problems insoluble and problems offering their own ignored solutions
jostle for my attention, they crowd its antechamber
along with a host of diversions, my courtiers, wearing
their colored clothes; cap and bells.
And then
once more the quiet mystery
is present to me, the throng's clamor
recedes: the mystery
that there is anything, anything at all,
let alone cosmos, joy, memory, everything, rather than void: and that, O Lord,
Creator, Hallowed One, You still,
hour by hour, sustain it.
If quoting from this newsletter, please mention “Tom Watson’s newsletter on Substack.” Thank you.
This is the first time I’ve been moved to comment critically, because your writing usually informs and inspires me to think more carefully and to look at new sources of information. Thank you for your piece on AI in the music industry. Informative and thought provoking. My criticism? The glib dismissal of the FiRE movement. There’s plenty to learn from Buffett, if you’re simply looking at the investment side of this approach. But for many (not all), FiRE is way beyond this: it’s also about taking responsibility for minimising your consumption and environmental footprint, reducing your spending to optimal levels (and what is “optimal” for you may not be “optimal” for me - definitely a case of “one size fits one”) and using your extra time and money in a financially and socially responsible manner. It’s about taking away the elements of your life (not just financial elements), that don’t serve you in the here and now to align your life with your values. Some people in the movement are focused solely on retiring early from the need to work (emphasis on “need”), and so it’s about maximising their financial returns. But for many of us, it’s a much wider spectrum of perspectives and approaches. Rant over, Tom!