Irish author Emma Donoghue stated, "They are robbing us in hopes of replacing us." That is a shocking statement. Irish artists, writers, musicians, actors, composers and performers are being ripped off by big tech billionaires through plagiarism or, to give it the proper term, theft. Their copyrighted creative work is being used to train AI systems to spew out "art" without the consent of the creators and in many cases without any remuneration whatsoever. The life's work of artists is being fed into systems that generate content in seconds for big tech billionaires while the people who created that work, often struggling artists, musicians, writers and photographers, receive nothing in return. Irish artists like many others were the driving force behind the 1916 Rising and represent the soul of this nation. They tell our stories and shape national identity. However, they are now forced to take on some of the world's largest tech companies simply to vindicate their rights. It is creating a dystopian nightmare. We have to stop it. Sinn Féin is strongly opposed to public bodies and services opting for AI-generated content instead of supporting the work of human creators. Public arts funding should support human-made art - it sounds bizarre to even talk about "human-made art" - and not subsidise the replacement of these same artists with machines in this new dystopian world. We are talking about artists such as Fontaines D.C., The Script, Sinéad O'Connor, Dermot Kennedy and Kneecap, many of whom have identified their work being used by AI generators. It is similar for authors such as Michael D. Higgins, Joseph O'Connor, Gerry Adams, Anne Enright, Colm Tóibín and Sally Rooney. We need to see action on this in Ireland and at a European level to protect artists' rights and income, respect their creativity and defend their livelihoods. It has to stop now.

Sentiment score: 0.08