These demands have nothing to do with hostility towards technology or progress. Despite all the opportunities that the use of artificial intelligence offers, the shortcomings and risks, especially those associated with the use of generative AI, must also be clearly identified and contained.

We have reasons to suspect that existing human-created works and/or sensitive personal data are currently being used for training in the development of generative AI applications – often without explicit consent.

Artists have always reflected on and commented on the society they live in, creating empathy and awareness. They are thus an integral part of a free and democratic society. The use of artificially created texts, images, and audio material (deepfakes) cannot fulfill this function, as they merely regurgitate existing works.

Furthermore, the unregulated use of artificial intelligence, especially in the cultural and media landscape, not only leads to the loss of quality described above, but also to the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs and creative expertise in Germany alone. On the one hand, this means a loss of tax revenue, but on the other, it also means the collapse of a key German economic sector.

Deepfakes also have a high potential for misuse and thus pose a security risk both internally and externally. The possibilities range from criminal use to targeted, politically motivated disinformation. The flow of information, publishing, journalism, and even translations, like any form of art, must therefore remain under human control.

Currently, the economic benefits of generative AI technologies are primarily concentrated in companies within the US and Asia, while intellectual property from Europe is often used as a training basis for these systems. The beneficiaries are therefore mostly located in countries where democracy is either directly threatened by the misuse of AI or has never existed before.

This widespread intellectual exploitation is neither in the interest of our free and democratic society nor of an economically strong and secure Europe, and it must be counteracted as quickly as possible.

We therefore demand laws that protect citizens, artists, their works, our culture and thus our democracy, as well as our jobs, economic power, and security.

We demand absolute transparency. AI-generated content and data from machine learning must be clearly labeled. The labeling requirement for AI-generated content, as currently provided by the EU, is not sufficient. Germany, the land of poets and thinkers, has to be a role model. Works must be clearly, visibly, and audibly labeled so that the public is informed about the "synthetic nature" of the programs they watch. It must be clearly recognizable what was created by AI.

The new government must act! We are no longer prepared to accept these violations of copyright and personal rights without a fight and to support generative AI without explicit consent and appropriate compensation.

By signing this petition, I wish to continue honoring and preserving audiovisual and written works from around the world in high-quality dubbing and translation—works created by humans for humans. I wish to continue preserving all art created by humans for humans, because no matter how sophisticated and powerful the algorithms may be, they remain mere replicas, copies, and imitations. Therefore, I join the voice of performing artists in defending human creation against artificial manufacturing.