Generative AI and Music
Will there still be a need for humans to write, produce and perform music?
The positive view is that while AI can do a good job of creating an artificial sound that may work for some styles such as pop, EDM, and other sounds that are easily replicated by AI, this may inspire humans to be even more unique with their own writing and sound as to distinct themselves from AI. It is possible like in many industries AI will be another tool to help people unlock further creativity and give the world something they have never heard before and allowing real musicians and singers/songwriters to unlock even more human emotion and soul.
In fact, there are a few ways creators and musicians can leverage AI in their creative processes. In the brainstorming, whiteboarding, and outlining stages, artists can seed the AI with an initial set of thoughts and get various ideas for creative direction. Artists can then choose from these and start creating in their own styles. They can also use AI to overcome writer’s block, ensure that style and content tone is unique in the final stages of editing, and fill skillset gaps (e.g., musicians making album art, songwriters generating vocals, etc.).
How Generative AI Can Impact Content Creation
Generative AI is a new method of computing, and these systems are increasingly disrupting creative fields such as writing, art, coding, acting, and music.
ChatGPT is capable of writing a song in any artist’s style. Prime AI can clone any voice, and it will soon be capable of generating entirely unique voices. AI models such as Google’s MusicLM, Dance Diffusion, and Jukebox can generate background music.
While extremists on both sides debate whether AI outputs should be considered art, most people are in the middle. Because the raw AI output cannot be copyrightable, it presents a risk to anyone using it. Still, a handful of creators have said that they’re using AI to create content.
Despite the recent buzz, everything indicates that ChatGPT and similar AI tools are already being used extensively and do not pose an imminent threat to human creators.