Kate Bush joins campaign against AI being used without artists’ permission

nme.com:

Kate Bush has become the latest to sign a petition speaking out against artificial intelligence (AI) using artists’ work without their permission.The campaign emerged earlier this year and states that “the unlicensed use of creative works for training generative AI is a major, unjust threat to the livelihoods of the people behind those works, and must not be permitted”.It arose in light of ongoing legal issues between the creative world and tech firms over the use of their work to train AI models such as ChatGPT.

Find the full statement here.Back in October, it gathered more momentum as both Radiohead‘s Thom Yorke and ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus signed the petition, alongside 11,500 others.

More famous faces who got involved included Billy Bragg, Kevin Bacon, Robert Smith, Julianne Moore, Kazuo Ishiguro, Ann Patchett and Rosario Dawson.Now, Kate Bush has joined the list of names speaking out against having their copyrighted materials used to train generative AI technology.The petition currently has 36,000 signatures and reads that, without government intervention, the practice creates “a major, unjust threat to the livelihoods of the people behind those works”.

You can sign the petition and find out more here.Bush’s signature sees her join Paul McCartney, who also took a stance in recent weeks and called for new laws to be put in place to prevent mass copyright theft by AI companies.For Bush, the push to restrict AI being used in music comes after the singer revealed that she’s looking to make new music.The artist found fame with her 1978 hit ‘Wuthering Heights’, and released her last studio album back in 2011.