Warner acts such as Coldplay can choose to opt in to their music being used by Suno to create AI music. Warner acts such as Coldplay can choose to opt in to their music being used by Suno to create AI music. Warner, the world's third-largest music company and home to acts including Coldplay, Charli XCX and Ed Sheeran, is the first of the major record labels to partner officially with the company. As part of their agreement, users will be allowed to create AI-generated songs on Suno via simple text prompts using the voices, names and likenesses of the Warner acts who choose to opt in to the service. Robert Kyncl, the chief executive of Warner Music Group, said the deal showed that artificial intelligence could be "pro-artist" when it is licensed to "reflect the value of music".

More than 30 performing arts leaders in the UK, including the bosses of the National Theatre, Opera North and the Royal Albert Hall, have joined the chorus of creative industry concern about the government's plans to let artificial intelligence companies use artists' work without permission. They also urged the government to support the "moral and economic rights" of the creative community in music, dance, drama and opera. The 35 signatories of the statement include the chief executives of the Sadler's Wells dance theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Leeds Playhouse. The performing arts bosses added that they embraced advances in technology and were "participants" in innovation, but stated the government's plans risked undermining their ability to participate in the development and deployment of AI. Critics of the opt out plan have described it as unfair and impractical.

Later this year, millions of Apple devices will begin running Apple Intelligence, Cupertino's take on generative AI that, among other things, lets people create images from text prompts. But some members of the creative community are unhappy about what they say is the company's lack of transparency around the raw information powering the AI model that makes this possible. "I wish Apple would have explained to the public in a more transparent way how they collected their training data," Jon Lam, a video games artist and a creators' rights activist based in Vancouver, told Engadget. "I think their announcement could not have come at a worse time." Creatives have historically been some of the most loyal customers of Apple, a company whose founder famously positioned it at the "intersection of technology and liberal arts."

The following MBW op/ed comes from Michael Nash (pictured inset, below), Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer, Universal Music Group. AI is transforming the ways we live, work and play – from chatbots that answer complex questions to systems that can write passable screenplays to programs that have passed part of a bar exam in the US. AI is now creating imagery comparable to professional artists -- with one AI-generated portrait being sold for £40,000 at Sotheby's and another composition winning a State Fair competition in Colorado. Learning from millions of images with associated descriptions of subject matter, composition, methodology and other inputs, the most advanced AI can now generate derivative output that closely mimics original creators' distinct styles. In some cases, this is used to produce outright fakes.

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more prevalent in the world of art and literature, it is natural for artists and authors to have concerns about how it may impact their work and careers. While AI has the potential to offer many benefits to creative professionals, there are also valid concerns about its potential negative impacts. One major concern for artists and authors is the fear of being replaced by AI. Some may worry that AI tools will be able to create works of art or literature that are indistinguishable from those created by humans, leading to the potential for widespread unemployment in the creative industries. While it is true that AI has the potential to automate certain tasks, it is important to remember that it is not yet capable of fully replacing the unique perspectives and experiences that humans bring to their work.

There's a great episode of Doctor Who where the stars start vanishing in the sky. This high concept storyline from the sci-fi classic comes to mind when thinking about future disruption to the metaverse should the tech concept ever emerge from its current state of pure fiction and speculation. Take Adobe, a company seen as a leader in the metaverse space through its AR, creative and UX footprint. The brand has taken flack recently from its creative core audience for removing Pantone colors from its flagship Creative Cloud software. To get the color range back, Adobe users will need to pay up or otherwise they'll see black.