Nearly 20 years after his AI career scare, screenwriter Ed Bennett-Coles and songwriter Jamie Hartman have developed ARK, a blockchain app designed to safeguard creative work from AI exploitation.

The platform lets artists register ownership of their ideas at every stage, from initial concept to final product, using biometric security and blockchain verification instead of traditional copyright systems.

ARK aims to protect human creativity in an AI-dominated world. 'It's about ring-fencing the creative process so artists can still earn a living,' Hartman told AFP.

The app, backed by Claritas Capital and BMI, uses decentralised blockchain technology instead of centralised systems to give creators full control over their intellectual property.

Launching summer 2025, ARK challenges AI's 'growth at all costs' mentality by emphasising creative journeys over end products.

Bennett-Coles compares AI content to online meat delivery, efficient but soulless, while human artistry resembles a grandfather's butcher trip, where the experience matters as much as the result.

The duo hopes their solution will inspire industries to modernise copyright protections before AI erodes them completely.