In a recent study According to streaming platform Deezer and market research company Ipsos, 97% of respondents could not completely tell the difference between a musical track created by AI and one created by humans. In other words, AI-generated audio is already really good.
And it’s already everywhere, including on the Billboard charts: Breaking Rust’s “Walk My Walk” – an entirely AI composition, from the instruments to the vocals to the image – reached number one on the country’s digital songs chart in mid-November. Then there’s Xania Monet, a similar virtual artist with gospel and R&B charting singles, who was recently signed to a record label for $3 million (€2.6 million). And this summer, the band Velvet Sundown amassed 1 million Spotify monthly listeners before revealing themselves as a “synthetic music project.”
Do people react negatively to AI music?
At first glance, it might seem like listeners are welcoming AI-generated music with open arms and ears. But the truth is more complicated than this. The same Deezer study found that 52% of respondents were uncomfortable with not being able to tell the difference between human and AI music.
So how do listeners feel when they learn that a piece of music is AI-generated? Some studies have shown that they like certain types of music lessOther studies, including one by Philippe Pasquier, director of the MetaCreation Lab for Creative AI at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, have found no bias for or against AI-generated music,,
One reason for this is that generative AI can be used in a myriad of ways that are not always obvious to the listener. “It depends on what the AI is used for – structuring, interpretation, mastering – among other factors,” Pasquier told DW in a written interview.
ethics of listening to music
Sophia Omarji says she can enjoy AI-generated music. Stockholm-based AI user experience researcher and music psychologist who hosts The Sound Mind podcastHe is also a musician. He told DW that although he thinks knowing that a piece is AI-generated might make you want to “take it apart,” it doesn’t technically make that much of a difference.
“You still enjoy the music, but some moral and ethical things may come up (and make you think): ‘Is this something I want to listen to?'”
A commonly raised ethical issue is that generic AI music platforms, such as Listen and Udio, train their machines on the work of existing human artists. This potentially violates copyright laws for use without payment.
This has prompted several artists to protest, including former Beatle Paul McCartney, who would release the single “Bonus Track” in December. An empty studio recording of the silent album “Is This What We Want?” Will be a part of. Which, created by 1000 co-authors including Kate Bush, Damon Albert and Tori Amos, protests UK AI copyright law which artists say would devastate the music industry.
Can machines imitate human expression?
The human fear of technological disruption is nothing new. In the early 16th century, people feared job displacement as automation was introduced into weaving.
Music-producing AI software has been introduced and criticized since the early 1980s. In recent years, AI has been used to complete Beethoven symphonies and Beatles tunes alike.
But for many musicians and music lovers the current moment feels different.
“It’s not just the loss of work. It’s part of my identity. It was my thing,” musician and audio producer Mark Henry Phillips said in a recent American Public Radio feature.Explaining how otherworldly the AI seemed, excelling in every musical style, genre and instrument. “My special skills aren’t that special anymore. From a musical and economic perspective, AI has me beat.”
For Umarji this difference relates to his idea of creativity. She describes herself as a “big user” of AI for tasks like idea generation or quickly reading and summarizing documents. Yet she does not use it in her music. “For me, music has always been about self-expression and creativity, and those aren’t words I really associate with AI.”
“I want to keep (music) a human process,” she adds.
AI-generated music: its own kind of art?
Pasquier also does not believe that AI systems are creative. “They’re copying the data they were trained on and they lack intentionality and framework,” he says. “They’re missing a lot of what makes up human (and) artistic creativity.”
But, he adds: “Creating machines that create art is a practice in itself, known as generative art or metacreation. It is not new and has long had a cult following among its followers.”
Ultimately, however, music is more than just sound, whether AI-generated or not.
“People like an artist, let’s say a musician, because of their looks, their attitude and personality. There’s so much more to fans than just the music!” Pasquier says. “Now some systems are starting to offer these features, and that discomfort turns to excitement for some people.”
But such enthusiasm is far from Sophia. She looks at how AI can give a foothold to musicians who have something to offer yet may not conform to certain industry standards. But for them, connecting with music is very much about discovering the artist and their story. He doubts that an AI artist could render it.
“If (a song) is created by AI, you go in and see they don’t really have a story. And I think that really takes away a big part of the music industry today.”
Edited by: Stuart Braun
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