I'm glad you see it that way, and not as some inherent property right. It exists to advance the arts and sciences for humanity, not for the sake of artists. The artists are a means to an end, in this conception!
But if an AI can truly spit out unlimited works that are as good as artists can make, isn't the interest of advancing the arts and sciences accounted for?
And if it can't (what I believe, not from dismissing the models powers but from my understanding of what art is), then do artists have much to fear?
Sony will still do it. It’s about who gets to profit from making humans less valuable as creators, not about whether or not it will happen.
This is about rent seeking by huge corporations, ultimately, since they own huge swaths of rights to creative works and can easily acquire more.
This IS happening. The question is will the benefits to society be democratized to some extent, or will they be concentrated to benefit only the major industry players?
Premature decisions about "ethics" and reckless regulation by captive legislators will have an outsized influence on the future, which is why certain players are pushing so hard for both. They appear to have plenty of useful idiots in their corner, judging by how these threads typically play out.
People have no idea what's coming. The personal computer was the biggest deal since electricity. The Internet was the biggest deal since Gutenberg. Large language models are the biggest deal since fucking Aristotle.
Nothing will look the same in 20 years. Absolutely nothing. Whatever you're clinging to now won't be there after the storm, so you'd better learn to swim.
Bullshit