What if AI could “do you” better than you?
The Future of Music: Can AI Truly Do You Better?
Imagine a world where your digital doppelganger could potentially outshine you in your craft. That is no longer a far-off science fiction trope. It is here, and it’s causing a seismic shift in the music industry. The question now is, can artificial intelligence (AI) truly “do you” better than you can?
Enter “Heart On My Sleeve,” a viral hit that has blurred the lines between man and machine like never before. This song doesn’t feature Drake or The Weeknd, yet their distinct voices are unmistakably present. The magic behind this phenomenon? The pseudonymous musician known only as Ghostwriter, who utilized AI to replicate these voices with a level of precision that is, quite frankly, mind-boggling.
AI in Music: A New Frontier
By using machine learning algorithms, AI can be programmed to study an artist’s unique style – the tone, the rhythm, the emotion that threads through their music – and recreate it in a new composition. It’s basically voice cloning. Imagine being able to listen to a new ‘John Lennon’ song in 2022, or witnessing a virtual ‘Freddie Mercury’ concert, all thanks to AI. This is the potential power that AI holds within the music industry.
But what does this mean for artists today? If AI can “do you” by mastering and replicating your style, does this spell an end to originality in music? Or does it open a whole new realm of possibilities?
Originality and Creativity vs. AI
The argument that AI challenges the authenticity of music is a valid one. Music is a deeply personal and human art form, borne out of emotion and experience. Can a machine truly understand and replicate that?
On the flip side, AI could also be seen as an innovative tool for artists. It could help them experiment with different styles, push their creative boundaries, and reach new heights. AI doesn’t have to replace human creativity – it can amplify it.
The potential of AI in music is vast and largely unexplored. As we listen to the uncannily accurate voices of Drake and The Weeknd in “Heart On My Sleeve,” we can’t help but marvel at the possibilities. And it doesn’t stop at music — Ai could copy — and someone could then sell — the style of popular fiction writers, from Harry Potter to crime noir writers Lee and Tod Goldberg. At this point, you can’t copywriter a style — yet Ai isn’t trained on a style — it’s trained on the actual writing — or in the music case, songs and voices — of artists who may have spent years honing their craft.
As the AI Revolution takes hold, we need to think about the ethics of AI:
Do artists and writers deserve any kind of protections — especially when their style is “cloned” as it were?
How do we think about the boundaries between artists and AI? Are there any?
Should AI generated content be eligble for awards — where clones compete with the orignal artists?
And lastly:
Could AI truly do us better than we do ourselves?
Only time will tell.
