Nick Clegg: Consent from artists would kill AI

If AI companies had to ask artists in advance whether they were allowed to use their works for AI training, Nick Clegg believes that would be the end of the AI industry. The former politician and ex-Meta head of communications, on the other hand, believes that an opt-out is both feasible and the right thing to do. Clegg said this on the fringes of the presentation of his new book.

An opt-in is simply not feasible, according to Clegg. There is simply far too much data used for the training to ask for permission for each individual work. However, many artists and authors are demanding exactly that. And it's not just them, politicians are also considering whether such conditions can be imposed. In the UK, copyright law is to be relaxed in favor of AI companies. The proposal states that works may be used for AI training without prior request. It provides for active opposition.

The problem that many artists see: It would be almost impossible to know who all wants to use the content, and thus also almost impossible to prevent all potential users from actually doing so. Numerous artists, such as Paul McCartney, Elton John, Ed Sheeran and Dua Lipa, as well as designers, journalists, and other creative people, have protested. They speak of theft when AI providers use their works without consent.

However, according to the Times, Clegg says that if AI providers are banned from using the content, it could kill an entire country's AI industry overnight. Conversely, the artists say AI could kill off an entire creative industry. The protest musicians from the UK have recorded a silent album. They say that would soon be heard, silence in recording studios.

Private data is also being used

The use of private data is also questionable. Meta, for example, would like to use all public posts by people who are registered on its platforms. Here, too, there is a kind of opt-out, namely via an objection form in the settings. Both the Irish data protection authority and the Cologne Higher Regional Court have confirmed that this procedure is in line with local data protection regulations. The latter rejected an urgent appeal by the NRW consumer advice center.

Nevertheless, it is not only Meta that uses the public contributions. OpenAI also repeatedly emphasizes that it uses all freely available data from the internet – including public posts from Facebook and Instagram.

(emw)