Melodies And Machines – Singing A Duet With Artificial Intelligence

Drake! The Weeknd! Selena Gomez! New music!… umm… not really…

Artists believe that AI cannot be creative.
Some artists believe that AI will never be as creative as humans.
This past week, we’ve seen (and heard multiple instances), where this ideology might be challenged.
Did you catch the song, Hearts In My Sleeve by Drake, The Weeknd and Selena Gomez?
It’s gone viral on social media… (over 9+ million streams), but the track uses AI to simulate the musicians… and it would be hard to tell the difference.
It’s not a perfect track, but it can’t be ignored as a signal to artists everywhere.
Other “deepfake” tracks (like Rihanna singing a Beyonce tune or some attempts to replicate Kanye have also made the rounds).

This begs the question: Can AI be creative?

Said another way: What happens when musicians collaborate with AI.
Or… What happens when AI ramps up and can create art better than humans?
Perhaps we stand at a creative precipice of unprecidented opportunites to shape the future of music… and art… at every level?
When used properly, it’s hard to imagine how leveraging the unique strengths of both human and AI might push the boundaries of artistic expression and uncover uncharted sonic territories.
It’s also an amazing way to democratize the creation of music, writing or art (look no further than the prompting and results we’re seeing out of Midjourney and other tools like it).
While AI can analyze vast amounts of data to identify patterns and trends, humans can add the feel, sensibility and quirkiness of what makes music matter.

But there are many challenges:

• Will there be a loss of authenticity?
• Can this create a murky situation where emotional connection and human expression loses its communication to the audience?
• Does any music injected with AI threaten to homogenize music more?
• What about the ethics, rights, and fair compensation for the artists?
• Who owns what part of the song?

So many challenges… so many opportunities…

This is what Heather Backman and I discussed over on 95.9 Star FM for a couple of minutes today.

What is Tech Tuesday?

Every Tuesday – for just a few minutes – I join Heather Backman (my old buddy from her days on CHOM FM and Jack 103) on the air at 95.9 Star FM to give a quick blast about the current state of technology, media and Internet culture.
We call it Tech Tuesday (and we do it in just a few minutes).

Once the segment goes live on 95.9 Star FM, I will post it here for you to listen in, learn, share and engage.

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