What a Good “AI” Policy Looks Like

Subvert is a creator-owned music platform, catering primarily to indie musicians; think of it as Bandcamp if it was a co-op. Subvert recently released a policy on the use of “AI” in the music that’s released on the site, and for anyone who is curious about things like this, I really think it’s worth a view. Among the things I think it does right is that it defines the terms under discussion (including acknowledging “AI” is at this point basically a broad marketing term), acknowledges the difference between generative “AI” and other types of computational processes, and then, having done so, lays out what’s acceptable use for music presented on the site (not neglecting things like cover art) and what is not. It even has a process available for judging edge cases, because no matter what your policy, edge cases will exist. Why do I think this policy works? One, because it firmly makes the case for human creation while acknowledging the reality of modern creative processes — in this case…