The AI Economy: Celebrities Sound the Alarm on AI Dangers
Those in the arts, media, and entertainment industries are among the more vocal regarding AI, behaving as doomsayers and calling for more protection for their work. iPhone users will finally get AI on their devices when the first set of Apple Intelligence features are released next week; OpenAI may soon release its next flagship model in December; and be sure to check out this week’s roundup of AI news you may have missed.
Celebrities Highlighting the Dangers of Artificial Intelligence
The SAG-AFTRA strike in 2023 was only the start of celebrities highlighting the dangers of artificial intelligence. Last November, the trade union approved a contract that would install regulations on AI, but that hasn’t diminished the efforts of actors and creative professionals to continue warning about the technology’s risk to their livelihood.
“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.” More than 10,000 artists this week signed a statement decrying AI companies’ unlicensed use of their work poses a “major, unjust threat” to their profession. Signatories include actor Julianne Moore, Radiohead singer Thom Yorke, Abba’s Bjorn Ulvaeus, and comedian Kate McKinnon. The American Federation of Musicians, SAG-AFTRA, the European Writers’ Council, and Universal Music Group also support the statement.
AI Critics in the Entertainment Industry
Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt has also joined the growing chorus of AI critics. The “Inception” star spoke at the WSJ Tech Live conference, saying what AI companies are doing is the equivalent of sleight of hand—it “makes you ignore the fact that these were created by humans.” He called for all licensing deals to be “renegotiated in light of this new technology.” Billie Eilish, Kacey Musgraves, J Balvin, Ja Rule, Jon Bon Jovi, The Jonas Brothers, Katy Perry, Miranda Lambert and hundreds of other artists have previously voiced concern about AI.
Nicholas Cage has also urged young actors to protect themselves from the technology. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) suing two AI startups this summer over copyright infringement.
Artists Advocating for AI Protections
As new contracts are negotiated, artists are asking their unions to ensure that future deals codify protections. This week, SAG-AFTRA successfully ensured that more than 120 games from 49 companies have agreed to AI protections.
Companies are continuing to push the boundaries of AI with new models and applications, which will likely draw more criticism from the creative industry. And it’s not just with voice assistants, but from text-to-audio and text-to-video generation apps. Increased legal action may also follow until a framework is established that safeguards artists’ rights while helping tech companies access the data they need to train their models and remain competitive.
Apple Intelligence and OpenAI's Orion Model
Generative AI is coming to the iPhone, iPad, and Mac with the public release of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1. Introduced in June, Apple Intelligence brings a revamped Siri, Genmojis, Visual Intelligence, Image Wand, and other gen AI features.
Sources tell The Verge that OpenAI is getting ready to release Orion, its next model, in two months. OpenAI officially denied plans to release Orion this year. In a statement to TechCrunch, the company revealed it plans “to release a lot of other great technology.”
Venture Capital Investments in AI
Venture capitalists are spending a lot on artificial intelligence startups. According to Crunchbase, over the past couple of years, at least 23 private companies raised more than $1 billion. Five of them have raised over $6 billion. Underscoring how hot the AI industry is right now, it’s reported that VCs have invested $3.9 billion in generative AI startups, spanning 206 deals, excluding OpenAI.
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