Martin Clancy: Irish-led initiative looking to ensure that "AI is used ethically" within music industry

A new Irish-led initiative aiming to ensure the ethical use of artificial intelligence in music has been established.

Potentially a breakthrough project, AI:OK was founded by Martin Clancy on of the original members of the acclaimed Irish rock band In Tua Nua. He earned a PhD in 2022, focusing on the ethics of artificial intelligence in music, before going on to publish his first book, Artificial Intelligence and Music Ecosystem.

“We’re dedicated to making sure AI is used ethically, and that creators and consumers share the same confidence in the music we all listen to and create together,” said Clancy. “With AI continuing to evolve at a staggering rate, we felt it necessary to bring the music industry this much-needed step forward.”

With the overarching mission of “promoting responsible AI principles”,  AI:OK has laid down a list of main objectives, including the creation of a framework for the industry to regulate and embrace AI responsibly, transparent and globally agreed-upon standards and protection and sustainable economic growth for all music stakeholders.

The introduction of a “trustmark" denoting music created responsibly in the era of AI has also been announced aspart of the AI:OK project.

Use of AI in music has become a hot issue within the industry, with legal issues certain to arose with increasing frequency. The big fear, however, has to be that artists will again be cast at outsiders, and not remunerated properly for their work, or denied commissions that would otherwise have come their way.

Earlier this week, some of the world’s biggest record companies announced legal action against artificial intelligence song generators Suno and Udio for copyright infringement, alleging that the start-ups are exploiting the recorded works of artists.

Suno AI’s chief executive Mikey Shulman responded, telling The Guardian that the technology is “designed to generate completely new outputs, not to memorise and regurgitate pre-existing content” and that it doesn’t allow users to reference specific artists.

He added that labels are refusing to enter “good faith discussions” and are instead reverting to “their old lawyer-led playbook.”

Elsewhere, over 200 high-profile musicians signed an open letter earlier this year, calling for protections against the predatory use of artificial intelligence.

“We look forward to gathering the initial advisors so we can begin to define what the music industry agrees is ‘OK,’” said AI:OK Strategy Lead David Hughes. “While we’re still in the early stages, we are dedicated to addressing the opportunities and challenges AI presents to the industry, and guiding the conversation and way forward.”

Irish companies and institutions are at the heart of the developments. AI:OK has established a network of research partners which includes Insight SFI  Research Centre for Data Analytics, Dublin City University, and Trinity College Dublin, with a similar relationship formed with French-based streaming service Deezer.

AI:OK have also begun coordinating their work with other initiatives that aim to tackle the use of AI in music, including Fairly Trained and DDEX, and has received initial letters of support from numerous organisations including A2IM, Music Sweden, Ableton and Grammy Award-winning Producer Albhy Galuten.

“There is nothing more important than human-to-human connection,” said Gaulten, who has previously worked with the likes of The Bee Gees, Dolly Parton and Eric Clapton. “We can’t trust those connections without the cornerstones of transparency and accountability that AI:OK stands for. Only then can we rely on AI to enhance rather than diminish our ability to connect as humans.”