Generative AI : Guardrails Is Need Of The Hour For Creative Sector

Despite archaic copyright laws and rules, the growth in the recorded music industry in India has largely come about as the record labels have managed to build a very healthy streaming economy, ensuring that Indian consumers have access to content on the backbone of our nationwide digital ecosystem. It has been years of consistent hard work by the record labels by reinventing themselves to cope with the ever-changing digital landscape, grappling with online piracy, signing accords with the creative community and challenging non-compliant platforms. Amongst all this, human artistry has been and will always be the epicentre for the recorded music industry.

The old comparison of the music industry being the canary in the coal mine can best be explained as “Whatever technology does to music, it does to every other sector in the media and entertainment landscape five years later”.  So, paying attention to tech trends and tech disruptions in the recorded music industry is a must for the whole creative sector and law makers. Kudos to the record labels for early adaptation to digital trends.

The development of the music industry is intricately intertwined with that of technology.  Our industry embraces new technologies and the creative and commercial opportunities that these technologies bring about. AI is no exception.  The music industry recognizes the potential of many forms of generative AI, from innovating new tools which will enrich creative processes and recommendation tools that will offer consumers a superior offering. The creative community will find amazing new ways to put AI to work as they tell new stories and innovate new sounds. 

At the same time, with the generative AI tools available today, it is important to understand the threat generative AI can unleash to human artistry that has always been the central focus of the creative sector. 

If generative AI is left unregulated the livelihoods of millions employed in the music ecosystem and the media and entertainment sector in India and globally could be in jeopardy. 

Hence the need for guardrails to be put in place which recognises and respects the value of human artistry. For us to reach the goal of a USD 100 billion media and entertainment industry by 2030, it is necessary for the Government of India to install sufficient guardrails for the use of AI to ensure IP rights, including copyright, is respected and that there are robust rules on transparency.  

The key principles to follow when framing a robust policy for the beneficial development of responsible human centric AI are:

1. Copyright protected works must only be used with prior authorisation.

2. Robust transparency obligations must be imposed on AI developers and deployers, to ensure an ethical, responsible and human-centric AI technology.  The absence of record-keeping should amount to a presumption of infringement.

 3. Purely AI generated works should not be granted copyright protection.

4. Personality/publicity rights of human artists should be respected and adhered to by developers, service providers, and users of Generative AI.

All these measures will help ensure that AI thrives as a technology that enhances rather than threatens human creativity.

IMI welcomes the various initiatives undertaken by the Govt. of India to address the AI concerns relevant to the creative sector as noted below:

1. G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration acknowledged use of AI for the public good by solving challenges in a responsible, inclusive and human-centric manner, while protecting people’s rights and safety. The declaration also highlighted the important elements of fairness, accountability, transparency and explainability to ensure responsible AI developments and use.
2. The New Delhi Declaration on AI adopted unanimously by 28 countries at the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) summit held during 12-14th December addresses various AI including lack of transparency, fairness and intellectual property protection.
3. The UK Bletchley Declaration agreed by 29 countries including India supported the development, deployment and use of AI in a way as to be human-centric, trustworthy and responsible. 
4.  Communications and Electronics & IT Minister Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw while interacting with representatives from academia, industry bodies and social media companies highlighted the need for an effective response to deepfakes. The Government identified four pillars -Detection, Prevention, Reporting and Awareness - in order to respond to the deepfake concerns.
5. An advisory letter issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY) to the significant social media intermediaries to ensure that due diligence is exercised and reasonable efforts are made to identify and take expeditious action against deepfakes.

The recent provisional agreement on Artificial Intelligence Act in the European Union is an important step to the right direction and provides a model for the rest of the world. The Digital India Act (proposed), currently in the works, is expected to address the issue of the challenges faced by generative AI.  If the rules and the public messaging is not clear then there is a high risk that all the risks and too few of the upsides with AI will be realised.The author is a Board Member at Gateway House and President and CEO of the Indian Music Industry (IMI)

Blaise Fernandes

Guest Author The author is a Board Member at Gateway House and President and CEO of the Indian Music Industry (IMI)