Album participants want protections that require AI companies to get permission before using ... [ ] artists' work.

More than a thousand musicians — including Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, Imogen Heap, Billy Ocean and Riz Ahmed — have released a “silent album” to protest a proposed overhaul of U.K. copyright law that they fear will make it easier for AI companies to use their work to train models without permission, unless they proactively opt out.

What is a “silent album”? In this case, it’s a series of tracks filled with the ambient sounds of empty studios and performance spaces meant to symbolize “the impact we expect the government’s proposals would have on musicians’ livelihoods,” reads the promo page for the album, which is titled “Is This What We Want?”

The album, organized by composer and technologist Ed Newton-Rex, drops as artists across disciplines grapple with the rapid rise of artificial intelligence and what it means for their income — and for creativity itself. AI has sparked a heated and sometimes divisive debate among creatives. Some are excited about its potential to steer........

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