It is both inevitable and also sucks, big time. But, I’m optimistic that most people will hate and discern AI generated music as much as they do AI art. After only a few years, the majority of people want nothing to do with AI art, photos or video, and can see right through it for what it is. Creativity is human and we’ve had thousands of years to perceive taste, interests, and form. Tech is not suitable to create art, it’s only worth is assisting humans to create art more easily, or differently. Like Elektron products.
The dark side to all of this is that, while all art, visual or musical, made by AI will eventually fade out from the creative zeitgeist, it will cause a heap of damage to the creative community in the meantime. As learned from tech’s imposition on art and the human condition in general. Technology can be a beautiful compliment to creativity, or it can be a tool used by sociopathic tech-creeps to manipulate humanity. They’re in the F around phase right now, and they’ll do their damage, and collect their VC cash, but the find out phase is around the corner, because a young generation of luddite creatives is already forming, fortunately.
Funny to watch the AI generated stock video clips in the video about how it’s bad that major record labels are trying to gobble up AI. All this stuff is propped up and none of this AI shit is actually profitable, it’s inevitable crash is likely to reveal it as the greatest waste of resources in human history. But yeah can’t think of anyone better to be left holding AI songs than major labels.
Yeah, AI does suck. We are in an AI bubble where investors are dumping crazy amounts of money into this thing that will be used to replace jobs and consolidate even more money and power to upper percentile. Hopefully the bottom falls out before the real damage is done.
And here is a more recent YouTube of AI recreating Michael Jacksons Thriller in a blues style.
Things are moving FAST! And there is as much point stamping your foot as every farrier, black smith, and saddle maker, after the invention of the automobile. The cat is outta the bag. And like everything else on the planet, it will be monopolised.
Except automobiles are useful. They’re inferior to mass transport methods but still way more useful and practical than travelling by horse.
That’s not the case with ai. Can it do things faster than a human? Sure. Can it do things better than a human? Sometimes, depending on the thing and the human. Can it do it cheaper than a human? I don’t know about that. Can it do the two things it can do better than humans at once and consistently in a usable manner that would warrant replacing the human? Nah. Will it ever? Nah. And if it ever does it will be way too expensive making it a bad choice anyway.
Why would anyone be a pumper for clankers? No idea. Perhaps something is very wrong with them. Did anyone ask for a dumb juxtaposition that tries to make a point but fails to understand the tech has peaked and will not get much better than currently? No.
Also consider that it did not happen by magic, the investments are astronomical. We thought that bitcoin miners were bad (prices and availability of GPU boards), but this is much much worse and directly affects the hardware prices over the world. Terrible resources invested into… funny memes? Python junior jobs replacements?
Whenever we’re in the upwards phase of a hype cycle, people talk about the approaching technology as being inevitable. But, it frequently isn’t. Take the “Internet of Things” as an example. For a few years, the media was entirely convinced that all of our household goods woudl be connected to a network, so that we could manage our fridge from work. It hasn’t happened, because most people didn’t want it. We as a species need to learn how to ignore these stupid hype cycles, and see the reality of technology, not a false reality that some idiot tech enthusiast is trying to brainwash us into.
All that’s novel here is that a computer did it and it did it quickly. Humans could have done this. Is it really that interesting that a computer did it instead? Isn’t the only thing interesting about it that a computer did it? I think Michael Jackson’s original is much more interesting.
It wasn’t to illustrate how novel the piece is, just how fast things are moving…if i asked any singer, drummer, instrumentalist, recording artists, mix engineer, mastering engineer to collaberate (and spend some serious money) to churn out semi decent versions of Thriller, in 5 different styles. Arrange them, learn them, rehears them, record them, mix them and then master them. How long would it take these comitted humans??? And yes, I think there are some great ideas in this interpretation of the song, most humans would study 10 years to know thier craft to be able to perform like this. Let alone, find all the other gifted and talented artists across every stage of production to collaborate with to make it happen…
Just acknowledging that its learning FAST…and if it excellerates at pace then we are about to witness a push forward in music…even if its from looking backwards…
Also im 51 years of age, my perspective involves a world where at one time computers weren’t common place, and were complete shit…so to me this is not something to be taken for granted…
It would take the humans much longer!
The ai can do it in a moment.
One would be yours, you can copyright and sell, do with it what you want. the other is just a “oh look, the computer did it”. It’s like the difference between your 8 year old drawing a picture for you and a random 8 year old you’ve never met drawing a picture and given it to you. Which of those will you hang on your fridge? Which of those will you be proud of? Which of those will you be willing to show other people? Because sowing things the computer has done is the same as going around showing the picture made by the random kid and being proud of it. Like, what?
Also you’re assuming it will continue improving. But it won’t. It has peaked. And as described in this very post, it is useless and worthless. A waste of time, resources and attention.
I do agree
If an artist presents work that contains ai then i loose respect…
But if its just presented as fake and made by ai for shits and giggles, i can dig it for what it is…
30 years ago i felt just great after knocking back a disco biscuit on a night out. I knew 100% that it was fake, synthetic, made chemically…but that didn’t stop me enjoying it for what it was…a totally fake good time.
The Artistic integrity of the chem student making tablets with little doves on them never was part of that conversation…this is kinda the same… who gives a shit how it was made if it makes you smile…
Your comparison makes no sense because you’re trying to equate a human made thing to a nonexistent thing made by statistically arranged code. You know that biscuit wouldn’t have made itself no matter how synthetic it was. The chemicals and how they interacted with your body’s chemistry were tangible.
Regarding the shits and giggles… knowing how wasteful it all is and how useless it is, that the best it can be is a “for shits and giggles” thing… is it worth it?
Ha!
A little thought for my grandmother that just left us at 96. She was born in a farm with no water nor electricity, no car, no dishwasher (when this one arrived, it was a pivotal moment in her life, she told me) and at the end of her life she would call her grand grandchildren or send them a text message. Talk about a change of perspective.
Not talking about Nazis severely degrading her youth experience, and the subsequent imposition of a capitalist system that grinded her husband and her son…
But the tech jump there was basically from wooden objects to motorized engines the size of a room.
Creative endeavours in any format are never wasteful…someone is seeding that…its not generating it self…
IDK…pong on Atari was a miricle when i was a child…
This is next level…and
All actually human made, the computers and code and listening devices etc… and all human consumed
We are metabolic creatures. We eat it, we shit it out… it does sound a little like you don’t like the metabolic rate…which i will agree with you 100% on…
There is also a less spectacular and more “ethical” way of using generative AI in your music:
Instead of using the generated output directly, use it to serve as an inspirational idea machine, for writing and improving drums, bass lines or melodies. For the rest, keep compositional control by recording and arranging everything the traditional way, that is by your’s truly.
sample AI generated material and mangle the hell out of it into a new arrangement. No need for sample clearance given that the raw material is not copyrightable in a first place but beware of the AI’s material sounding too familiar with another copyrighted work by chance.
Good luck to someone trying to get a piece of your cake because you’ve rented their instrument to create your music. That’s what AI is: an instrument.
