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AI-generated creation and promote their own content to reduce copyright payments. 71
A recent study highlighted the “potential cannibalisation of creators’ revenue streams
due to the substitution of human works by [generative] AI outputs ”. 72 Within only a
few years, creators could lose nearly a quarter of their income: “under current
conditions, this market penetration by [generative] AI outputs could put 24% of music
creators’ revenues at risk by 2028”. 73
49. Many sources report that the destruction of the professional fabric is evident. 74
In this respect, “AI presents a double-edged sword. While it promises productivity
gains, efficiency, and economic growth, it also raises concerns about job
displacement, skill gaps, surveillance, and the erosion of workers’ rights”. 75 Reports
suggest that people working in creative sectors (illustration, photography, writing,
editing and translation, among others) are seeing reduced demand for their services
and, when their services are contracted, they are often relegated to merely reviewing
what the machine has produced. 76 The competition faced from AI tools is leading to
fears for the disappearance of certain professions, increased precarity in cultural jobs,
lower pay for artists and other cultural professionals, and a devaluation of human
creativity. 77 These developments coincide with questions as to the quality of the work.
In a recent survey of creative workers in the United Kingdom, 73 per cent believe that
AI is changing the quality of work in the creative industries. 78
50. Creators are aware that their works, when accessible in the digital environment,
can be used by AI to generate new content, and that inexpensive copies or imitations
are presented to the public in lieu of their work. Without attention to creativity or
quality, the incentives for human creators to create more works are significantly
reduced. 79 If regulatory frameworks are not updated to match the development of
these technologies, there is a further risk that many creatives will cease to share their
work for fear of it being used without their consent. 80
51. Some artists are asked to sign contracts for the use of their voice or image on
unfavourable terms, which include the purchase of their data on a buyout basis. “The
one-off payments offered to performers who engage in generative AI work often do
not reflect the fact that their image, voice or likeness may be used forever and on
thousands of different projects”, 81 or that this unlimited use might not be anchored in
informed consent, control and fair compensation.
52. These transformations have, or will have, in the short and medium term, impacts
on the economic and social rights of artists, as well as their socioeconomic status.
Their artistic freedom is therefore under threat, as is their right to take part in cultur al
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74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
16/21
See Feriel Mestiri, “Des morceaux de musique créés par l’IA inondent les plateformes de
streaming”, Radio Télévision Suisse, 1 April 2025.
International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, Study on the Economic
Impact of Generative AI in the Music and Audiovisual Industries, November 2024, p. 41.
Ibid., p. 71.
See Octavio Kulesz, “Dialogues interdisciplinaires: repenser la culture à l’ère de l’IA”,
International Observatory on the Societal Impacts of AI and Digital Technology and IVADO,
May 2025, p. 16.
Submission by Khalid Mahmood, Labour Education Foundation, Pakistan.
Submission by Julija Kalpokiene.
Submissions by Observatorio del Impacto Social y Ético de la Inteligencia Artificial, p. 1;
Christian Steinau and others, p. 3; and the Alan Turing Institute, p. 2.
Submission by Equity, pp. 2 and 3.
Submission by Society of Audiovisual Authors, p. 1.
Submission by the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, p. 1.
Submission by Equity, p. 3, as well as p. 9, on diverse regimes of personality or image rights
applying to performers. See also submission by the International Federation of Actors, p. 5, on
negotiation efforts to better protect the use of their members ’ visual likenesses and voices for
the creation of digital replicas.
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