“When the bubble bursts, the grandiose claims about the technology will be shown to be massively overblown”: AI in music production – where should we draw the line?
Artificial intelligence is fast becoming an unignorable presence in the world of music-making. How can we use it ethically – and should artists and producers be worried?
Note: This opinion-based, long-read format allows a range of writers a platform to speak about the topics that are important to them. Their views are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of MusicRadar as a whole.
Music is one of the – if not the – purest forms of human creative expression, but paradoxical though it may seem, it is fundamentally defined by technology.
After all, you can’t make a synth without electronics, you can’t make a trumpet without smelting metal, and you can’t make a flute if you lack the wherewithal to hollow out the inside of a stick. The positive feedback loop of this intertwined relationship has functioned beautifully for millennia, with technological invention driving creativity in music, and imagination in music driving creativity in technology.
Debates around the subject of AI abound, with many unanswered questions surrounding the morality, legality, financial coherence, environmental impact and existential threat of the technology.
