Hollywood luminaries Scarlett Johansson and Cate Blanchett, alongside Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan and the iconic band REM, have joined forces to sign an open letter accusing technology giants of "theft" for using copyrighted artistic work to train artificial intelligence models.
The letter, spearheaded by the Human Artistry Campaign’s “Stealing Isn’t Innovation” movement, unequivocally demands that these companies pursue "ethical" collaborations rather than resorting to "stealing" creative content.
A host of other prominent figures have also lent their support, including actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Olivia Munn, musicians Aimee Mann, MGMT, Common, Cyndi Lauper, and Simon Le Bon, as well as acclaimed author Jonathan Franzen.
The signatories assert: "America’s creative community is the envy of the world and creates jobs, economic growth, and exports. But rather than respect and protect this valuable asset, some of the biggest tech companies, many backed by private equity and other funders, are using American creators’ work to build AI platforms without authorisation or regard for copyright law."
They continue with a stark message: "Artists, writers, and creators of all kinds are banding together with a simple message: Stealing our work is not innovation. It’s not progress. It’s theft – plain and simple."
The letter highlights a viable alternative, stating: "A better way exists: through licensing deals and partnerships, some AI companies have taken the responsible, ethical route to obtaining the content and materials they wish to use." It concludes: "It is possible to have it all. We can have advanced, rapidly developing AI and ensure creators’ rights are respected."
This collective action follows Scarlett Johansson’s previous public criticism of artificial intelligence, specifically after OpenAI launched a ChatGPT voice assistant that bore an "eerily similar" resemblance to her own. She expressed being "shocked" and "angered" by the chatbot, prompting OpenAI to temporarily halt the voice’s use.
OpenAI has repeatedly denied that the voice was intended to sound like Scarlett Johansson. It did so again in its announcement that the voice would be paused.
“We believe that AI voices should not deliberately mimic a celebrity’s distinctive voice – Sky’s voice is not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson but belongs to a different professional actress using her own natural speaking voice,” the company wrote. “To protect their privacy, we cannot share the names of our voice talents.”
