Paul McCartney Calls for Protections against A.I. & Exploitation of Artists: “The Money’s Going Somewhere”

Paul McCartney is calling for protections for younger artists against AI and exploitation by tech giants.

In a recent interview with the BBC, the former Beatle said: “You get young guys, girls, coming up, and they write a beautiful song, and they don’t own it,” he said. “They don’t have anything to do with it. And anyone who wants can just rip it off. The truth is, the money’s going somewhere. When it gets on the streaming platforms, somebody is getting it, and it should be the person who created it. It shouldn’t be some tech giant somewhere.”

The 18-time Grammy winner spoke out as the U.K. government considers weakening copyright protections there and allowing tech companies to train their A.I. models on creatives’ content unless the originators specifically opt-out.

“We’re the people, you’re the government. You’re supposed to protect us. That’s your job,” McCartney said. “So you know, if you’re putting through a bill, make sure you protect the creative thinkers, the creative artists, or you’re not going to have them.”

Not that Sir Paul is against artificial intelligence. 

“I think AI is great, and it can do lots of great things,” he said.

He and Ringo Starr used AI in 2023 to “extricate” John Lennon’s vocals from an unfinished demo and create a new tune called Now and Then. The song is nominated for two Grammys.

“We took an old cassette of John’s and cleaned his voice up so it sounded like it had just been recorded yesterday. So it has its uses,” McCartney said. “But it shouldn’t rip creative people off. There’s no sense in that.”