🔗 Share this article Pop Vocalist Jorja Smith's Music Company Takes Stand Against Viral 'Artificial Intelligence Clone' Track The artist's vocals were allegedly replicated in the creation of the viral song, 'I Run'. The record label representing award-winning artist Jorja Smith has declared its desire to receive a share of royalties from a track it asserts was produced using an AI "replica" of the singer's unique voice. The song, titled 'I Run' by UK dance act Haven, achieved widespread popularity on social media last October, in part due to its polished R&B vocals by an unnamed woman singer. Despite its momentum and potential top 40 position in both UK and US, the song was subsequently removed by leading music services after music bodies issued takedown notices, alleging it breached copyright by imitating another artist. Although 'I Run' has now been re-released with completely new vocals, Smith's label, FAMM, maintains it believes the initial recording was generated with AI programmed on her body of work and is now seeking appropriate redress. A Broader Principle in Play "The situation isn't just about one artist. This is larger than a single performer or one song," the label wrote in a recent statement. FAMM also stated its belief that "both iterations of the track infringe on the artist's rights and unfairly benefit from the work of all the songwriters with whom she works." Known for hits like 'Be Honest' and 'Little Things', Smith was crowned British Female Solo Artist at the prestigious Brit Awards in 2019. Implying that her supporters were potentially deceived by Haven's first track, the label concluded: "Our industry must not permit this to become the standard practice." Producers Admit Employing AI Technology A producer admitted the use of AI in a social media update. The duo behind the song have publicly admitted utilizing AI in its production process. Songwriter Harrison Walker clarified that the initial vocals were actually his own but were heavily altered using AI music platform Suno, often called the "ChatGPT for music". Meanwhile, the second producer, Waypoint, identified as Jacob Donaghue, confirmed on social media that AI was used to "give our original vocal a female quality". Donaghue and Walker maintain that they wrote and created the music themselves and have even shared files of their source production sessions. "This is no secret that I used AI-powered vocal processing to convert solely my voice for 'I Run'," Walker elaborated. "As a songwriter and producer, I like experimenting with new tools, methods and staying on the forefront of what's happening," he continued. "In order to set the facts clear, the artists behind HAVEN are actual and human, and all we want to do is make enjoyable music for other humans." Legal Uncertainty and Industry Impact Jorja Smith has received two Brit Awards, including the best female artist in 2019. While their original release of 'I Run' was suspended from official charts, the replacement version did break into the UK Top 40 recently. FAMM has positioned the entire episode as a critical test case for the music industry's changing interaction with artificial intelligence. The label argued it had "a duty to speak up" and "encourage public discourse", because AI is proliferating at an "rapid rate and substantially exceeding legal oversight". "AI-generated content should be transparently labelled as such so that the audience may choose whether they listen to it or not," the statement continued. Creators Become 'Unintended Victims' Smith shared her label's statement on her own Instagram page. The text cautioned that artists and songwriters were turning into "unintended casualties in the race by policymakers and tech firms towards AI dominance". It also stated that the label would share any potential songwriting credits with the collaborators behind Smith's music. "If we are successful in proving that AI helped to write the lyrics and melody in 'I Run' and are granted a share of the song, we would aim to assign each of Jorja's co-writers with a corresponding share," it detailed. The Ongoing Rise of Computer-Generated Music The emergence of AI-generated music has been a source of both interest and consternation for the entertainment world. In June, the group Velvet Sundown gathered vast numbers of plays before disclosing they used AI to aid craft their sound. Recently, an AI-generated "artist" known as Breaking Rust topped a US genre sales chart, showing that audiences are not always averse to consuming computer-generated music. Suno was last year sued for alleged violations by the industry's three largest record labels, though those legal actions have since been resolved. Following this, Warner Music entered into a collaboration with the firm, which will enable users to generate songs using the vocal likenesses, names, and likenesses of Warner acts who agree to the service. However, it remains uncertain how many well-known musicians will consent to such applications of their work. Just last week, a collective of prominent musicians including Sir Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn, and Kate Bush issued a vinyl album featuring tracks of silence or recordings of quiet studios in opposition to potential revisions to intellectual property regulations. They argue these changes would make it easier for AI companies to develop systems using protected work without securing a permission.