Wednesday, July 05, 2023

Music containing AI-generated elements could win a Grammy as long as a human contributes in 'a meaningful way,' Recording Academy CEO says


Dominick Reuter
Tue, July 4, 2023 

"As long as the human is contributing in a more than de minimis amount, which to us means a meaningful way, they are and will always be considered for a nomination or a win," Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr told the AP.
GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty

Music containing AI-generated elements is eligible to win a Grammy, the Recording Academy CEO said.


While the award will only be given to "human creators," those artists can use AI in their work.


New rules last month prohibit work that contains "no human authorship."


In order to win a Grammy, you need a great song, excellent distribution — and a pulse.

New rules announced last month by the Recording Academy specify that the music industry's highest award is for "only human creators," and flatly rejected any works that contain "no human authorship."

But that doesn't mean a human can't use AI to create an award-worthy single or album, so long as they're careful about crediting their respective contributions, Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said in an interview with the Associated Press.

"Music that contains AI-created elements is absolutely eligible for entry and for consideration for Grammy nomination. Period," Mason said. "What's not going to happen is we are not going to give a Grammy or Grammy nomination to the AI portion."

Like most awards, the Grammys recognize the various creative contributions that go into making great music within and across genres — songwriting, composition, production, and performance.

In other words, if a singer performs words written by AI, they won't get credit for songwriting. If the AI does the performing, the human might be credited as a producer.

"As long as the human is contributing in a more than de minimis amount, which to us means a meaningful way, they are and will always be considered for a nomination or a win," Mason said. "We don't want to see technology replace human creativity. We want to make sure technology is enhancing, embellishing, or additive to human creativity."

The news comes on the heels of guidance from a consortium of 24 leading colleges in the UK, including Oxford and Cambridge, that permits students and staff to use generative AI in their academic work, so long as they use it ethically.

Mason said the process for determining the rules for this award cycle took about six months to really nail down, and that he expects more than a few entries to include AI elements.

"We'll see if some of them get nominated or not, but I'm sure there'll be some that will be submitted," he said.

The CEO of the company behind AI chatbot ChatGPT says the worst-case scenario for artificial intelligence is 'lights out for all of us'

Sarah Jackson
Tue, July 4, 2023 

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said he thinks artificial intelligence at its best could have "unbelievably good" effects, or at its worst mean "lights out for all of us."
Brian Ach/Getty Images for TechCrunch

Chances are, you've heard of ChatGPT, the viral AI chatbot sweeping the internet.


Some say it helps with work. Others fear ChatGPT can create problems like misinformation or scams.


The CEO of ChatGPT's maker said AI could be "unbelievably good" or make it "lights out for all."


ChatGPT has been making the rounds online, and as with any type of artificial intelligence, it's raising questions about its benefits — and how it could be abused.

In a January interview, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, offered his take on the pros and cons of artificial intelligence.

In the interview, StrictlyVC's Connie Loizos asked Altman what he viewed as the best- and worst-case scenarios for AI.

As for the best, "I think the best case is so unbelievably good that it's hard for me to even imagine," he said.

He added: "I can sort of imagine what it's like when we have just, like, unbelievable abundance and systems that can help us resolve deadlocks and improve all aspects of reality and let us all live our best lives. But I can't quite. I think the good case is just so unbelievably good that you sound like a really crazy person to start talking about it."

His thoughts on the worst-case scenario, though, were pretty bleak.

"The bad case — and I think this is important to say — is, like, lights out for all of us," Altman said. "I'm more worried about an accidental misuse case in the short term."

He added: "So I think it's like impossible to overstate the importance of AI safety and alignment work. I would like to see much, much more happening."

Experts have said ChatGPT could be abused for purposes like carrying out scams, conducting cyberattacksspreading misinformation, and enabling plagiarism.

In more recent interviews, Altman has said he understands why some people are concerned about AI.

"I think it's weird when people think it's like a big dunk that I say, I'm a little bit afraid," Altman said on tech researcher Lex Fridman's podcast in March. "And I think it'd be crazy not to be a little bit afraid, and I empathize with people who are a lot afraid."

In June, he told Satyan Gajwani, the vice chairman of Times Internet, "What I lose the most sleep over is the hypothetical idea that we already have done something really bad by launching ChatGPT."

At the same time, Altman has said he believes the development of AI will spell the "most tremendous leap forward" for people's quality of life, but "regulation will be critical."

No comments: