Protecting Georgia’s Artists in the Age of Generative Artificial Intelligence

With the growing influence of artificial intelligence, generative media has become increasingly popular. The use of generative AI has completely changed the way many people consume art, and made creating it more accessible than ever before. Yet, for many younger artists in Athens and across Georgia, AI has taken creative opportunities away and expanded risks. The secret behind AI’s ability to generate art is the existing artwork and digital media it uses to train itself and create “new” works. This leads to artist’s work being used without consent or recognition, harming an entire field of work and creative outlets. Without revising and expanding the current state of AI policy, Georgia risks discouraging its next generation of artists and undermining the creativity that boosts its economy.

Athens is home to many artists, from high school to UGA students, and to the many aspiring Clarke County performers and creators. These artists work hard to build their portfolios and share their works with the world. This often leads to opportunities like internships, commissions, and entry level positions in various fields from music to digital media. All around, this helps the growth of skills needed for Georgia’s growing creative economy. Developing original work and talent drives the growth and innovation the creative industry needs to sustain itself. When original artwork can be so easily replicated and reworked by AI, many young artists lose control of their work before they can establish themselves.

In 2025 the Georgia General Assembly pushed legislation like Senate Bill 37, which attempted to create a statewide AI board and would have required government agencies to make AI implementation plans. Similarly, House Bill 147 has advanced to focus on monitoring and requiring disclosure of AI usage in state agencies. These Acts show that there is momentum building for AI legislation, but the policy is only focused on government use. To formally protect the public, we must advance policies that regulate how private companies use artist’s creative work.

The push to better AI regulation is growing with various senate committees and advisory councils taking closer looks at different incidents over the past few years. However, while legislators sit and wait for studies to be done and committees to meet, copyright cases continuously come through and leave major gaps for young artists. As AI systems grow their capability to generate images, designs, music, and more based on existing work, artists face their work being used without credit or compensation. This actively undermines the driving incentive in creative work so long as there is potential for works to be reused without protection. As time passes, fewer artists will invest their energy into developing new creative skills and we will see less art work put out into our cities.

    Other states are taking even greater strides to protect art, moving beyond advisory boards and actually attempting to regulate how AI systems work and are implemented to the public. Examples  Georgia could follow are states like California pushing for transparency in AI training data, Tennessee protecting the likeness of performers, or New York holding companies accountable for AI training practices. Georgia needs to continue this trend and take steps to implement clear protections for artistic works. This would include laws that require formal consent before using artists’ work in AI training data and further transparency in what exactly is being used to train generative AI models. Policies like this would not slow the innovative growth of AI like some people fear, they would only make sure it is sustainable and protects the next generation of creators.

It is clear that Artificial Intelligence is not going away, and it doesn’t have to. Recently, Georgia has taken plenty of steps to ensure a smooth integration into state agencies, so why can legislators not ensure the general public is protected from private companies as well? Until artists are provided with stronger protections, innovative efforts will only increasingly come at the expense of the next generation of creators.

Joshua Thornton is a second-year at the University of Georgia studying international affairs. He is a member of our youth and AI group.