My Thoughts On The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Music

The Wave Is Here, Now What?

IEYL’s Previous Views On A.I.

I was definitely more optimistic in the past. However, the bad actors are now among us.

Let me slow down, I’m getting ahead of myself.

In 2020, I wrote a piece about the general history of music periods from a strictly European/western point of view. The goal was to start in antiquity and bring us up to modern day with a few predictions for the future.

I dedicated one entire future-prediction section to the “The Impending Impact of Artificial Intelligence”. My faith was largely in the humanity of both the artistic creator and listener. At one point, I wrote “Humans will knowingly disregard technology as they see it as a threat. We want to feel something, we want to feel connected to one another. Music is one of the best mediums to do that.” In my heart of hearts I still believe that, but the growing A.I. trends lead me to far more fearful and conservative prescriptions for the future now.

At the time of the 2020 piece I was enjoying this fantastic album called Proto by the A.I. thought leader and musician Holly Holden. Now, I’m questioning every next step we make in the industry as it both relates to A.I. and our understanding of music as human-centric art.

The Current State Of A.I. And The Music Industry

We are at a watershed moment and I’m afraid we are reacting far too slowly. We are not even halfway through the year and the following has already happened:

• Fans have been scammed out of thousands of dollars for fake AI-generated Frank Ocean tracks
• An AI-generated Drake and Weekend track has gone viral on TikTok,
• Nick Cave is steadily yet profoundly sounding off on ChatGPT.

The current trends are exceptionally troubling. Not only are the bad actors out and making a tremendous impact on the songs we consume and the artists we connect with, but they are moving faster than the industry has prepared to react. As of May 2023 there is very little movement to regulate A.I.’s use in terms of copyright infringement, their ability to publish music on streaming services/hard copies, and people’s ability to establish complete labels of AI-generated artists to produce original music. The current moves made by the music industry have been largely reactionary and based on old pre-A.I. era rules. There has been close to no pre-set A.I. rules in place that these bad actors have accidentally stepped into.

In short, we’re deep in the wild west now.

This is concerning. Very concerning.

The stakes are higher than I’d previously imagined. For instance, here are some terrible yet possible paths we could absolutely go down.

• Mass extinction of songwriters as we know it.
• New hit songs from AI-versions of artists where the difference is indistinguishable.
• A frenzy of copyright infringement cases where the proof of copying another’s musician’s music isn’t clear due to the similarity yet originality of the AI program.
• Waves of fake “leaked” music from artists that continue to be, in reality, AI-generated originals.
• A label, or labels, that are AI-based in their mission and have a competing chance with current labels in chart position, streaming numbers, and hard ticket sales.
• Deep fake-instrumented music videos where the combination of deep fake videos and A.I.-generated audio fools the audience and grabs their attention at a faster rate than the artist/label can keep up.

Cautious Optimism

My current position and the official AI-related position of IEYL is to move forward with cautious optimism. Currently, in the technology space, leaders in the space have penned an open letter calling for the halt of continued AI development and its “profound risks to society and humanity.” In other words, they want to take a breather to figure out how to move forward ethnically and with the public safety in mind.

The heads of the music industry should be doing the same. Right now.

Instead, we’re getting tongue- and-cheek comments from Drake, bizarre remarks from Grimes about storing her brain in AI to produce her “clone”, and radio silence from the head of industries. It’s not enough for Spotify to take down AI-generated songs in one giant sweep. There needs to be a vision, guided by the head of the field, guiding the rest of us towards some desired goal.

So, who is providing this vision? In the last two years the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) EAD (Ethically Aligned Design) Committee For The Arts produced one of the most important reports on artificial intelligence in the arts. It’s a must read for anyone lost in the noise of AI-related news these days. The purpose of the report was to bring the reader up to speed on the AI trends hitting the art space. In the end, they also have straight-forward, clear, and comprehensive recommendations for the industry to address the A.I. question. The recommendations are below:

1. Artists should mobilize and collectively exert power to encourage and influence the development of human artist- centric AI systems.
2. The IP generated by artists should be respected by AI systems (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes.
3. AI systems in the creative arts should utilize human-centric principles and sustainable design whether commercially or non-commercially oriented.

I couldn’t agree with this list more.

In our current situation, what does this look like, though? It’s great that this report exists but it’s frustrating to know the general public doesn’t know that this committee nor this report exists. Therefore, IEYL’s follow up recommendations are the following:

1. Have the leaders of all of the major music industries write an open letter outlining their worries and visions for the safe and ethical use of AI. Included in this letter should be the human-centric principles they are working towards with academic leaders, streaming industry giants, and artists.
2. The major artists of the music industry (the big ones, the ones on your mind as you read that) speak up following the letter reinstating their support of the letter’s message.
3. Include some AI-based program/labels on the letter as signatories, or something similar.

Look, it’s obvious that not everyone is going to agree. There will always be bad actors. Additionally, there will always be artists or industry leaders who will have a counter-vision. Still, the defined parameters are meaningful. They’re necessary. Without them we are going to spin as an industry into complete and unforgivable chaos.

The use of A.I. can and should be fruitful, exciting, and filled with uncharted possibilities. The goal is to provide those guardrails so A.I. remains a tool for humans, and not the other way around.

The road ahead will be tough, but with the above steps taken into account, we can handle it, together.

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