Artificial Intelligence (AI) will become a major part of our lives in the years to come and can be beneficial for many different industries such as healthcare and education, but there is one industry that may not take too kindly to AI’s influence. I believe AI generated music and art is unfair to artists and unethical if not used correctly. AI art stifles creativity and takes jobs and opportunities away from human artists who put lots of time and effort into their work.
AI creations can only be as ethical or lawful as they are programmed to be. AI companies have been sued by record companies for illegally using their records. During June of 2024, two mainstream AI music generators, Suno and Udio, were programmed to train their machine learning algorithms using copyrighted works without the artists’ permission. It could also be argued that the art these algorithms generated is not actually original, but just a collage of stolen human works. What is the incentive to create when the fruits of one’s labor are likely to be sacrificed to the AI algorithm with the possibility of no recognition and no compensation?
AI music and art generators can stifle human creativity. When artists don’t have to experience the full process of creating a work, they lose the creative knowledge resulting from that process. And when people without an artistic background use AI to produce art, they are losing an appreciation for the time and effort of talented human artists who produce original works. Paule, from Rapid Vocal Results, had AI create an article about its own grip on creativity in music, and this is what its algorithm said: “By reducing music creation to a series of mathematical calculations, AI stifles the spontaneous creativity and improvisation that arise from human interaction.” Scarily, I couldn’t have said it better myself. There is already a problem with lots of music sounding similar. If AI takes over, music streaming platforms will become creativity deserts – full of passable but unoriginal AI songs and lacking artists with the knowledge to create original songs.
After an AI-generated track with fake Drake and The Weeknd vocals went viral in April of 2023, the New York Times asked teenagers: “Will AI replace pop stars?” Many answered “A.I.-generated music would not have the emotional pull of music made by humans … and that A.I. could never replace the connection between musicians and their fans.” Educators, such as professor Mario Ajero, point out that AI is a useful tool to aid people without resources and an inspirational starting point. These arguments imply that human art is not threatened by AI-generated art. But if AI gets too good to be distinguishable from human art, people will definitely take advantage of it.
A possible solution might be to require permission from artists for AI algorithms to use and emulate their works and to noticeably tag any AI-generated work. I urge readers not to take the AI shortcut; you’re only undermining your own creativity.
Sources
The Learning Network. “What Students are Saying about A.I.-Generated Music.” May 11, 2023, The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/11/learning/what-students-are-saying-about-ai-generated-music.html. Accessed 3 Nov. 2024.
Rolling Stone Culture Council. “Unveiling the Impacts and Disruption of on Music Industry Stakeholder.” 2024, Rolling Stone, council.rollingstone.com/blog/the-impacts-and-disruption-of-ai-on-music-industry-stakeholders. Accessed 3 Nov. 2024.
Ajero, Mario. “Artificial Intelligence: and Its Effects on Music Instruction.” American Music Teacher, vol. 72, no. 5, Apr.-May 2023, pp. 16+. Gale OneFile: Fine Arts, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A744045972/PPFA?u=nm_s_albuqacad&sid=bookmark-PPFA&xid=8a7af2db. Accessed 3 Nov. 2024.
Tencer, Daniel. “As Suno and Udio admit training AI with unlicensed music, record industry says: ‘There’s nothing fair about stealing an artist’s life’s work.’.” Aug. 5 2024, Music Business Worldwide, https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/as-suno-and-udio-admit-training-ai-with-unlicensed-music-record-industry-says-theres-nothing-fair-about-stealing-an-artists-lifes-work/. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
Paule. “Sounding the Alarm: AI’s Chilling Grip of Creativity in Music.” 2024, Rapid Vocal Results, https://rapidvocalresults.com/ais-chilling-grip-on-creativity-in-music/#:~:text=Eroding%20creativity%20and%20collaboration&text=By%20reducing%20music%20creation%20to,authenticity%20that%20defines%20true%20artistry Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
