Ever since the introduction of the “mobile device,” technology has been the face of the future. Both dystopian and utopian depictions of robots quickly became a recurring motif across contemporary media.
“You think you’re gonna clean the ocean, what, do you think you can drain it?” — Jenny Lewis
I’m going to leave the environmental concerns out of the argument for now. It is a facet of the anti-AI argument that I will not be touching upon, partly because it deviates from my forthcoming argument about humanity, but also because if I think about it too hard I will implode.
Today I want to talk about AI vs art. I fully believe that AI will inevitably take over automated industries, which toootally sucks if you want to go and study medicine!! HOWEVER, I believe that AI will never fully take over art, specifically music.
Controversies arose recently surrounding an AI artist by the name of “Sienna Rose.” Sienna Rose’s music tricked many listeners (and other artists!), who had NO CLUE it was AI. This brought up issues around AI artists appearing on DSPs (digital streaming platforms). Sienna Rose had managed to rack up a few million monthly listeners, despite… not… existing… that bitch don’t got a larynx!
Others argue that AI music makes production “accessible.” Puh-lease. If you tried to get your hands on Logic or Ableton, watched one thousand tutorial videos like the rest of us, and couldn’t do it… well, you could always pick up origami! There are so many hobbies in the world!
My music teacher told me this anecdote from a taxi ride: his driver asked if he’d like to hear the music he “produced.” He then played tracks generated by Suno AI, proudly explaining how easy it was to “produce” on the platform.
EW!!
Anyhoo, the problem isn’t that AI can make art—it’s that it removes the whole point of it. Art isn’t about how something sounds or looks, it’s about the process and the meaning. It’s about the intention and the heart of the human behind it—someone trying and failing and crying and bleeding to produce something with feeling.
AI pulls from humans, feels nothing, and calls recreation creation. But song without meaning is …just noise.
And maybe this is personal, but I have to CRY to write a song. I have to choke on my tears and lose my voice to write about something that hurt me. It feels disrespectful to just… cheat that.
Not to mention, AI can’t ever take over live music. Being in a room where sound is literally pouring out of people and their instruments, there’s this buzzing, communal feeling that just can’t be replicated.
I’ve also seen how the rise of AI music has sparked a kind of quiet revolution from real artists, which I LOVE. If anything, it’s made people double down on being human.
I wholeheartedly believe that in the future, our children will still be singing songs about real broken hearts and lives that have actually been lived.
Sign this open letter to demand Spotify to label AI songs as AI generated.
https://www.thisartistishuman.com/
By my pal PJ and his pals. It is currently a WIP, but sign nonetheless!
Warmly human,
Mila Bea