Silent Album In Protest Against AI

More than 1,000 musicians – including Annie Lennox, Billy Ocean, Kate Bush and Mystery Jets – released a "silent" album on Tuesday in protest at the UK government's planned changes to copyright law, which they say would make it easier for AI companies to train models using copyrighted work without a licence.

Generative AI programmes mine, or learn, from vast amounts of data like text, images, or music online to generate new content which feels like it has been made by a human. 

The said proposals would give artists or creators a so-called "rights reservation" – the ability to opt out. But critics of the plan believe it is not possible for an individual writer or artist to notify thousands of different AI service providers that they do not want their content used in that way, or to monitor what has happened to their work across the whole Internet. 

The artists hope the album – which features sound recordings of empty studios and performance spaces – entitled "Is This What We Want?", will draw attention to the potential impact on livelihoods and the UK music industry. 

The tracklisting for the record simply spells out the message: "The British government must not legalise music theft to benefit AI companies". All profits will be donated to the charity Help Musicians. 

On the same day, the UK's creative industries launched a campaign to highlight how their content is at risk of being given away for free to AI firms. The "Make it Fair" campaign, which includes wrap-around adverts in national newspapers, is urging people to write to their MPs to object to the government's plans.

Ruthless Celtic extended their advantage at the top of the Scottish Premiership to 16 points by cruising past Aberdeen 5-1 in Glasgow on Tuesday.

Daizen Maeda opened the floodgates with a composed finish from close range in the 24th minute. Six minutes later, Jota broke on the counter with pace against a stretched Dons defence and when his pass to Engels was returned, he scuffed the ball into the net from 10 yards. And in the forty-fifth minute, Callum McGregor's ruthless side-foot finish piled on the misery. Substitutes Luke McCowan and Yang Hyun-jun combined for the South Korean to slot in the fourth in the seventy-second minute. 

The Dons pulled a goal back in the 90th minute. But Maeda had the final say by rounding off the scoring with a tap in from Alistair Johnston's teasing cross in stoppage time.