Cisac president and ABBA co-founder Björn Ulvaeus has given his latest – and most detailed – speech about AI and creators, at the United Nations’ AI for Good Summit in Geneva.
One of his key points was counselling against focusing too much on licensing the outputs of AI-music models – the tracks that they generate.
“I think it misunderstands how these models work… What comes out isn’t a copy of any one song. It is a new synthesis built from everything the model has learned,” said Ulvaeus.
“For me, tracing the output was always the wrong question. The right question is much simpler. It is about the training. Our works went in. We should be paid for what went in, not for every output that comes out the other end, but for the raw material that made the machine what it is.”
It’s important to understand that Ulvaeus was not saying that the outputs of AI-music models should not generate royalties too – but rather that he is sceptical about the ability to identify the original works in a new creation.
Ulvaeus called on policymakers to support the idea of Spotify-style licensing of catalogues, collectively, for AI.
“The infrastructure already exists. The principle is already established. What is missing is the political will to require it for everyone, not just those powerful enough to sue.”
You can watch his full speech here, and read the transcript here.
