In 2023 the Recording Academy updated its Grammy Award rules to address artificial intelligence, establishing that “only human creators are eligible to be submitted for consideration for, nominated for, or win a GRAMMY Award.” The protocols took effect for the 66th Grammy Awards cycle, held in early 2024.
The rules do not ban AI outright. Music that uses AI-created elements remains eligible, provided a human made a meaningful contribution - and the human-authored share of the work submitted must itself be meaningful. The distinction can turn on category: if a record’s lead vocal is performed by an AI, it would be ineligible in a performance category but could still qualify in a songwriting category where the human contribution is strongest. Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. summed up the stance by saying the Academy is “in the business of celebrating human excellence and human creativity,” and that it would not give an award to an AI or to someone who merely prompted one.
The policy echoed, in the music world, the same line the US Copyright Office was drawing for visual art the same year: tools may assist, but recognition attaches to human authorship.
Why business readers should care: a major awards body codifying a human-authorship test signaled how creative institutions intend to treat AI - as an allowed tool, not an eligible author.