Japanese artists call for rights protection amid AI boom

An entertainment industry group in Japan is calling on the government to protect the rights and activities of artists in response to the growing amount of content generated by artificial intelligence.

The members of Arts Workers Japan are actors, musicians and other artists. The group announced at a news conference on Monday that it had submitted a request to the government.

The group presented the viewpoints of freelancers working in various fields to explain the impact of AI on artists' activities.

A voice actor said AI can replicate artists' expressions and performances after analyzing their voices for just a few hours.

An artist noted that AI could infringe on copyrights by reusing works without their creators' knowledge.

Speaking via a video link, stunt performer Sato Hiroshi said relying too much on AI to create dangerous-looking sequences would make it difficult for him to maintain or pass on his professional skills.

The head of the group, actress Morisaki Megumi, said rules should be established to protect the rights and activities of artists against AI-generated content.

She said the group called on the government to take legislative action to protect artists' rights to their images, voices and performances.

She said the group also demanded that AI users should have to disclose where the data they use comes from and to pay the original creators.