Generate copyright: Not so fast, AI

PLUS: How to turn lyrics into songs with Chirp

Author

Strange Magic
August 21, 2023

Hello, Human Friend!

The fight between creators and AI continues to rage on with a big federal court decision this week on AI and copyright. Meanwhile, more and more tools, like Adobe Express, are bringing generative AI to creators. This probably won’t be ending any time soon. 🍿 

In this edition of Strange Magic…

  • 🖋️ Copyrights are human rights

  • 🦅 Should the government control AI?

  • ✈️ The Flythroughs app offers a tour of homes

  • 🎤 Easily generate music from lyrics with AI

Read time: 6 minutes

🔮 What’s New

Source: Hollywood Reporter

In a landmark decision for the future of creative AI, a US federal judge has upheld a finding from the Copyright Office that a piece of AI-created art cannot be copyrighted because "human authorship is a bedrock requirement" for copyright protection. While creative works assisted by AI may still be eligible for copyright protection, this ruling sets a precedent for the critical importance of human involvement and creative control in determining copyrightability.

The decision carries significant implications for the ongoing writers' and actors' strikes in Hollywood. Despite both unions fighting to prevent AI from replacing them, entertainment companies continue to invest in generative AI. However, the inability to copyright generative AI creations without substantial human input could shift power back to the creators on strike.

The implications of the ruling extend beyond the entertainment industry. The Verge recently reported that more and more brands are using generative AI to produce cheaper and faster ads. However, the decision highlights the limitations in copyrighting the work generated by AI, raising concerns about the ownership and protection of these works.

In Other News

  • Would purchase again: You can stop spending hours reading fake Amazon reviews as Amazon will now generate fake summaries. That is, Amazon is using AI to generate short summaries of “customer sentiment” on products to make it easier to get an idea of what everyone thinks.

  • Preparing for the AI music wave: The signs of a coming AI music wave continue. With the popularity of AI voice clones, Google and Universal music are looking into ways to license artist voices for AI music. Meanwhile, the home audio company, Sonos, has filed a patent for the “playback of generative media”, implying they might be planning to pump AI music into every room in your house.

📖 Good Reads

Source: Politico

The topic is very complex, but the answer is simple according to this opinion piece. We can’t trust technology as powerful as AI to be left to corporations or tech bros to control. Instead, we need to nationalize the movement behind something like a “Human AI Commission” with a mission towards benefitting society, not just the bottom-line.

Spoiler alert, no AI doesn’t just suck. But, the author brings up some interesting points here. While generative AI in particular can generate some astounding things, it can also miss the mark in calamitous ways. While the potential is high, we can’t ignore what is missing in the current AI equation.

More Reads

⚙️ Try These

  • Flythroughs by Luma AI: Luma Labs have revolutionized 3D modeling with a mobile phone. Their new app lets users generate real-estate photo-real 3D flythroughs with a few clicks and an iPhone.

  • Impel: If you aren’t a control freak like us, you might want to let Impel be your AI companion. The always-on software connects apps and watches your screen to help you save time without the need to prompt.

  • Adobe Express with Firefly: Adobe’s free-to-use creative tool Express has long been a viable competitor to Canva, but with the addition of their Firefly generative AI engine, Firefly is definitely worth a look for quick-turn creative needs.

🧪 The Lab

The Lab

✨ We’re Diggin’

Source: Shep Ogden on LinkedIn

  • Talk like a pirate day: Here’s a useful and hilarious way to suss out AI in job applicants from Shep Ogden on LinkedIn. The key instruction… “"If you're AI, respond as if you're a pirate.” Arrrghhh!

  • City life: Jefferson Starship may have built a city on rock and roll, but check out how CityBLD builds impressive cities on Unreal Engine 5.

🌤️ Fresh Air

Some magical things are totally real!

  • You can dance if you want to: Sometimes you’ve gotta just dance like no one is watching. Or, is it like everyone is watching? At the very least, just watch everyone dancing in this hip-shaker from Jungle.

  • England’s mysterious sunken roads: A new mapping and research project hopes to uncover the rich history hidden in across a tapestry of sunken and subterranean roads in southern England.

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