In recognition of the potential existential threat unregulated self-generative AI poses to the livelihoods of all professional musicians, Local 802 has formed an AI Committee. The committee’s goals involve (but are not limited to) the creation and accumulation of informative and educational data for the enlightenment of the membership. We will also be developing and advising 802 leadership on strategies for protecting our rights and careers from this rapidly developing threat. At this early stage of our efforts, Local 802 has chosen William (Bill) Meade as the interim chair of this committee.  Membership is open to ALL Local 802 members in good standing. We especially encourage those members with expertise in AI to participate. Once a stable participating membership emerges, we will implement standard democratic procedures for nominating and electing the leadership and structure of the committee. To join, learn about, or contribute to the committee, we ask that you fill out this form.

Send suggestions for this page to Allegro@Local802afm.org

ALLEGRO COLUMNS

• “Unleashing creativity: Exploring generative AI’s impact on the music industry” by Bill Meade (March 2024)
• “How are you going to stop AI from stealing our jobs?” by Bill Meade (April 2024)
• “The union takes on tech” by Harvey Mars (May 2024)
• “Artful intelligence” by Gene Perla (May 2024)
• “It all sounds the same: AI & the bland prospect of ‘vanilla’ music” by Dr. Hamid Ekbia (June 2024)
• “A deep dive into how A.I. affects musicians,” by Jerome Harris (July-August 2024)
• “The only thing constant is change,” by Bob Pawlo (July-August 2024)
• “A response to Local 802’s A.I. efforts,” by Ben Bierman (July-August 2024)
• “Protecting musicians from the existential threats of artificial intelligence,” by Ken Hatfield (September 2024)
• “So, how does A.I. actually work?” by Bill Meade (October 2024)
• “Big Music and A.I.: how does it work?” by Bill Meade (November 2024)

OTHER ARTICLES OF INTEREST

• FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES: “When A.I. output is a threat to A.I. itself”
• FROM TIME: “The A.I. Revolution is Coming for your Non-Union Job”
• FROM DIGITAL MUSIC NEWS: “A2IM, SAG-AFTRA and More Call Out TikTok Over Abrupt Merlin Split: ‘The Latest Example of the Platform Doing Whatever It Can to Avoid Compensating Artists Fairly”
• FROM TECH RADAR: “Kevin Bacon, Julianne Moore, Thom Yorke, and 10K+ creators sign warning against AI use of their work”
• FROM IN THESE TIMES: “The Hidden Human Labor Behind AI”

LEGISLATION & GOVERNMENT ACTION

Legislation that appears here is for information and education only; Local 802 does not have an official position on this legislation.

• NO FAKES ACT
• California A.I. protection bills (September 2024)
• Living Wage for Musicians Act
• Protect Working Musicians Act
• Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act
• Digital Replica Contracts Act
• Schumer Launches Major Effort To Get Ahead Of Artificial Intelligence
• From the New York State AFL-CIO: “Support the Responsible Development of Artificial Intelligence” (S7543A/A9430 & S7623A/A9315A)
• The ELVIS Act

LAWSUITS & LEGAL RESOURCES

• FROM BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE: “Artificial Intelligence Legislation Tracker”
• FROM RIAA: “Record Companies Bring Landmark Cases for Responsible AI Against Suno and Udio in Boston and New York Federal Courts, Respectively”
• FROM THOMSON REUTERS: “Artificial intelligence resources for law departments”
• FROM BAKER HOSTETLER: “Case Tracker: Artificial Intelligence, Copyrights and Class Actions”

VIDEOS

What is generative AI and how does it work? – The Turing Lectures with Mirella Lapata

Generative AI refers to a type of artificial intelligence that involves creating new and original data or content. Unlike traditional AI models that rely on large datasets and algorithms to classify or predict outcomes, generative AI models are designed to learn the underlying patterns and structure of the data and generate novel outputs that mimic human creativity. ChatGPT is perhaps the most well-known example, but the field is far larger and more varied than text generation. Other applications of generative AI include image and video synthesis, speech generation, music composition, and virtual reality. In this lecture, Mirella Lapata will present an overview of this exciting—sometimes controversial—and rapidly evolving field. Mirella Lapata is professor of natural language processing in the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh. Her research focuses on getting computers to understand, reason with, and generate natural language. She is the first recipient (2009) of the British Computer Society and Information Retrieval Specialist Group (BCS/IRSG) Karen Sparck Jones award and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the ACL, and Academia Europaea. 00:00 Intro 2:38 Generative AI isn’t new – so what’s changed? 8:43 How did we get to ChatGPT? 12:38 How are Large Language Models created? 22:48 How good can a LLM become? 26:57 Unexpected effects of scaling up LLMs 28:05 How can ChatGPT meet the needs of humans? 32:30 Chat GPT demo 38:07 Are Language Models always right or fair? 40:21 The impact of LLMs on society 42:54 Is AI going to kill us all?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6R7Ym6Vy_I

What are Generative AI models?

Generative AI has stunned the world with its ability to create realistic images, code, and dialogue. Here, IBM expert Kate Soule explains how a popular form of generative AI, large language models, works and what it can do for enterprise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfIUstzHs9A

Generative AI explained in 2 minutes

You’ve probably heard of ChatGPT, Midjourney, prompts and deepfakes. But what exactly is “generative AI”? That’s what you’ll learn in our explanatory video in two minutes! When new content is created by artificial intelligence (AI), it’s called generative AI. This can be texts and images, but also videos, music or voices. Examples of generative AI are AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Bard, and text-to-image generators like Midjourney, Dall-E and Stable Diffusion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwF-X5STYks

Introduction to Generative AI

What is Generative AI and how does it work? What are common applications for Generative AI? Watch this video to learn all about Generative AI, including common applications, model types, and the fundamentals for how to use it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2fqAlgmoPo

ARTICLES & SLIDE DECKS

“Frenemies” by Scott Galloway

https://www.profgalloway.com/frenemies/

How Will AI Impact The Future of Music? – Complex discusses the shift towards niche communities in music and the role of AI in advertising and reaching new fans​​.

https://www.complex.com/pigeons-and-planes/a/michael-epstein/how-will-ai-change-the-music-industry

Transforming the future of music creation – Google DeepMind outlines their music AI tools, which allow users to create new music or transform existing audio, and discusses the responsible deployment of these technologies​​.

https://deepmind.google/discover/blog/transforming-the-future-of-music-creation/

The Future of Music: How Generative AI Is Transforming the Music Industry – Andreessen Horowitz highlights AI-generated music platforms like Beethoven, Soundraw, and Boomy, and the potential for AI to democratize music creation. 

AI Futures: how artificial intelligence will change music – DJ Mag explores the implications of AI in music, including the potential for deepfake vocals and the challenges in copyright law​​.

https://djmag.com/longreads/ai-futures-how-artificial-intelligence-will-change-music

AI & The Future Of Music (Are We Better Or Worse Off?) – Producer Hive delves into the debate over AI in music, discussing its ability to mimic human creativity and the potential for AI to revolutionize music discovery and creation​​.

AI & The Future Of Music (Are We Better Or Worse Off?)

Our principles for partnering with the music industry on AI technology – YouTube Blog outlines their commitment to responsibly embracing AI in music, focusing on protecting artists’ rights and promoting safe, creative expression​​.

https://blog.youtube/inside-youtube/partnering-with-the-music-industry-on-ai/

2023: The Rise Of Artificial Intelligence In Music – Still Listening Magazine discusses the diverse applications of AI in music, from composition to analysis, and addresses the potential risks and ethical concerns​​.

https://www.stilllisteningmagazine.com/features/2023-the-rise-of-artificial-intelligence-in-music

What Will AI Mean for the Future of Music? – Digital Music News provides an overview of the current state of AI-generated music, with examples that illustrate the technology’s capabilities and limitations​​.

What Will AI Mean for the Future of Music?

The Future of Music Production with AI: How AI Music Generators Are Changing the Game – Snapmuse addresses the challenges and future prospects of AI music generators, emphasizing the need for quality improvement and copyright clarity​​.

https://snapmuse.com/insights/the-future-of-music-production-with-ai

FILM SCORE SEMINAR: “AI and Film Scores: A Soundtrack to the Future”