Uploaded January 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The worlds of art and entertainment are wrestling with, and reeling from, the opportunities and challenges posed by ‘generative’ AI – tools that can generate seemingly unique, bespoke creations in response to ‘prompts’ submitted in plain language. Such technology is now having a dramatic impact on almost every profession or art form that involves static or moving images, written or spoken words, sound, music or programming code.
Some creators insist that their consent should have been sought before their work was included in the vast datasets on which AI has been trained. Some are seeking the removal of their work from such datasets even now, although the path from machine learning to AI creations is so intricate that this may be the practical equivalent of trying to unbake a cake. Others, by contrast, revel in the new creative possibilities arising from AI, and approach the technology as an enormous and exciting artistic toolkit.
Who will prevail? And what will be the consequences?
The speakers are:
Dr JJ Charlesworth - art critic; editor, ArtReview
Vivek Haria - composer, London Symphony Orchestra, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and Piatti Quartet; writer on art, technology and culture
Rosie Kay - dancer; choreographer; CEO and artistic director, K2CO LTD; founder, Freedom in the Arts
Dr Hamish Todd - mathematician; videogame programmer; creator, Virus, the Beauty of the Beast
The chair is: Sandy Starr - deputy director, Progress Educational Trust; author, AI: Separating Man from Machine
This debate was filmed by volunteers working with Worldwrite at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023. Please help ensure the charity is able to edit a further 32 debates by hitting the THANKS button above and donating whatever you can afford.
The worlds of art and entertainment are wrestling with, and reeling from, the opportunities and challenges posed by ‘generative’ AI – tools that can generate seemingly unique, bespoke creations in response to ‘prompts’ submitted in plain language. Such technology is now having a dramatic impact on almost every profession or art form that involves static or moving images, written or spoken words, sound, music or programming code.
Some creators insist that their consent should have been sought before their work was included in the vast datasets on which AI has been trained. Some are seeking the removal of their work from such datasets even now, although the path from machine learning to AI creations is so intricate that this may be the practical equivalent of trying to unbake a cake. Others, by contrast, revel in the new creative possibilities arising from AI, and approach the technology as an enormous and exciting artistic toolkit.
Who will prevail? And what will be the consequences?
The speakers are:
Dr JJ Charlesworth - art critic; editor, ArtReview
Vivek Haria - composer, London Symphony Orchestra, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and Piatti Quartet; writer on art, technology and culture
Rosie Kay - dancer; choreographer; CEO and artistic director, K2CO LTD; founder, Freedom in the Arts
Dr Hamish Todd - mathematician; videogame programmer; creator, Virus, the Beauty of the Beast
The chair is: Sandy Starr - deputy director, Progress Educational Trust; author, AI: Separating Man from Machine
This debate was filmed by volunteers working with Worldwrite at the Battle of Ideas festival 2023. Please help ensure the charity is able to edit a further 32 debates by hitting the THANKS button above and donating whatever you can afford.
