It's currently a bit of a crazy time to be in the music space in Australia. The Atlantic's AI Watchdog has uncovered just how many songs (including those by Australian artists) have ended up in the training datasets for AI models. This includes a whole range of artists from big to small, including Kylie, INXS, AC/DC, Tones and I, Gotye, Ben Frost, Nick Cave, Vance Joy and more.
Music Tech Australia board member Andrew Cullen wrote a piece about this for The Conversation "Australian musicians hate AI using their songs, but have little legal protection." - covering why AI companies want this data and why legal cases may be a challenge. With that said, there's also the potential for the EU's AI act to help Australian musicians better protect their rights as time goes on.
Articles like this are made possible through the network of connections that Music Tech Australia has. APRA board member Caitlin Yeo, multitalented songwriter Dobe Newton, and Jesse Pattinson from The Delta Riggs provided amazing quotes and insights at very short notice, helping to ensure that articles like this represent the views of the Australian music community.