{"id":5514,"date":"2026-02-09T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hacnumedia.org\/?p=5514"},"modified":"2026-02-04T12:49:58","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T11:49:58","slug":"what-if-a-citizens-convention-on-ai-were-to-take-shape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hacnumedia.org\/en\/what-if-a-citizens-convention-on-ai-were-to-take-shape\/","title":{"rendered":"What if a citizens\u2019 convention on AI were to take shape?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In our globalized economy, it is hard to ignore the fact that AI has become an object of near-devotion for its economic impact. The AI Action Summit, held in Paris in February 2025\u2014already a year ago\u2014made this abundantly clear: \u20ac200 billion will be invested in AI across Europe, including \u20ac100 billion in France alone, even as our shared public goods (healthcare, culture, education, community life, ecology, etc.) are being asked to tighten their belts. The only urgency being voiced is the fear of falling behind technologically and economically. In short, the goal is that \u201cEurope must be one of the leading continents in AI\u201d (Ursula von der Leyen<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n

But what about the other issues raised by AI\u2014ethical, environmental, social, and questions of living together? What about the diversity of cultural expressions? There have been a few token statements, yes, but no real action. AI is often framed as offering new technological freedoms to artists, while conveniently forgetting that freedom always comes with responsibility for its consequences. Artistic freedom, once subjected to the AI-driven economy, is already sending out warning signs: its only responsibility, it seems, is to be profitable. As for the diversity of cultural expressions\u2014which underpins human relationships\u2014at this pace it risks being wiped out by the profitability demands imposed by the sheer scale of these investments. <\/p>\n\n

The giants of the cultural industries and the AI sector are already moving fast, with the first commercial agreements signed: Universal and Warner Music Group<\/a> with Udio in the music industry; Disney with OpenAI<\/a> in animation. They were also active through the illegal extraction of creative works, as revealed (among other examples) by Mediapart<\/a>, which reported that \u201cto train its artificial intelligence model, Facebook\u2019s parent company illegally downloaded, as early as 2022, the collection of books amassed by the pirate site LibGen,\u201d with \u201cthe central involvement of Guillaume Lample<\/a>, now one of the executives of France\u2019s flagship AI company.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

Committed to the diversity of cultural expressions, to their equal representation, dignity, and discoverability, Zone Franche,<\/a> the World Music network, cannot accept these looming threats. Grounded in the principles and values of cultural rights, we therefore call for a democratic, social, and cultural reclaiming of these issues, through the establishment of negotiation frameworks based on respect for individuals, their associations, and their organizations, and guaranteeing respect for fundamental human rights. Ethics are glaringly absent from the profit-driven AI economy. <\/p>\n\n

In 2021, the Zone Franche network conducted a concrete experiment with its (mini) Climate Convention. Modeled on France\u2019s Citizens\u2019 Convention for the Climate,<\/a> it brought together a wide range of participants around thematic workshops (artist mobility, audience mobility, food systems, digital practices) to reflect on the environmental impact of musical activities and ways to reduce it. This work led to the publication of a report<\/a> containing 148 recommendations to decarbonize the music sector. <\/p>\n\n

In light of these concerns\u2014and drawing on this positive experience\u2014shouldn\u2019t the creation of a Citizens\u2019 Convention on \u201cAI, Artistic Freedom, and Cultural Diversity\u201d now be self-evident? Its purpose would necessarily be to mobilize broadly\u2014artists and professionals, researchers, experts and non-experts alike\u2014so that society as a whole can be engaged and heard on an issue that is profoundly reshaping our humanity. It is urgent that AI become a political and democratic issue. <\/p>\n\n

S\u00e9bastien Laussel, director of Zone Franche<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wouldn\u2019t the creation of a Citizens\u2019 Convention on \u201cAI, Artistic Freedom, and Cultural Diversity\u201d be the logical next step? Its mission would\u2014imperatively\u2014be to mobilize a broad range of voices (artists and cultural professionals, researchers, experts and non-experts alike), so that society can be fully engaged and heard on an issue that is profoundly reshaping our humanity. It is urgent that AI become a political and democratic matter. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":5513,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[42,40],"class_list":["post-5514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorial","tag-ai","tag-society","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hacnumedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hacnumedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hacnumedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hacnumedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hacnumedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5514"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hacnumedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5514\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5515,"href":"https:\/\/hacnumedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5514\/revisions\/5515"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hacnumedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hacnumedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hacnumedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hacnumedia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}