Jimmy Page and Brian May have warned of the potential for artificial intelligence (AI) to destroy art and ruin artists financially and spiritually, echoing recent calls from Paul McCartney, Bon Jovi and many other musicians, Ultimateclassicrock reports.

May voiced her concerns in support of the Daily Mail's campaign against the British Labour Party's AI copyright proposal, which would allow tech companies to use existing copyrighted material to train AI unless rights holders opt out.

Page shared a lengthy and impassioned statement on Facebook in which he stressed the importance of "protecting the sanctity of human creativity against AI encroachment" in order to "protect not only the rights of creators, but the very soul of our cultural heritage." 

Although May supported the Daily Mail's campaign against the UK government's AI copyright proposal, he also expressed concerns that it may be too late to stop AI proponents from overturning copyright laws and taking advantage of creators.

"My fear is that it's already too late - this theft has already taken place and is unstoppable, like so many other incursions that the arrogant billionaires who own Al and social media are making into our lives. But I welcome this campaign to make the public aware of what is being lost. I hope we can put the brakes on, because otherwise no one will be able to afford to make music from now on," May told the publication last week.

Page took a more personal approach to condemning AI, reflecting on his early days as a concert musician and his subsequent worldwide dominance as a member of Led Zeppelin. He called his grueling early concert days "a source of creativity, collaboration, and constant inspiration," during which he was "required to create and conjure riffs and lyrical figures immediately, without slowing down the pace of the recorded work with the other musicians and the performer." 

"This journey from the anonymity of concert work to the world stages with Led Zeppelin was not a path paved by algorithms or data sets," Page continues, "It was a journey marked by spontaneous improvisation and the immeasurable spark of human ingenuity. The alchemy that transformed a unique riff into an anthem was imprinted in the collective soul of the band - a synergy that no machine can imitate."

Further, Page dismisses AI-generated art as "hollow echoes, devoid of the struggles, triumphs and soul that define true art." He added that "when AI processes the vast array of human creativity to generate content, it often does so without consent, acknowledgement, or compensation. This is not innovation, it is exploitation."

The guitarist noted that if someone had taken his work without consent or compensation, "it would be considered theft. The same standard should be applied to AI." Therefore, we must advocate for policies that protect creators by ensuring that their work is not sucked into the abyss of machine learning without regard. Let us honour and protect the human touch in art - the imperfections, the emotions, the stories behind every note and beat." | BGNES