I’ve been a musician for the better part of eight years, and trying to make a name for myself has been a game of patience, trial and error, and spending money on equipment, marketing, and more. Despite all of the clear reasons to avoid pursuing a career in the arts in the United States, a lot of us still choose to do it. Why? It’s simple– we love it. No matter how hard/frustrating it can get, there's nothing more fulfilling than seeing your project through to the finish line. But now there’s a new threat – artificial intelligence.
I have a confession to make: I have used AI in the past. Granted, this was back in 2023, when the most worrying thing to come out of AI was a disjointed video of Will Smith eating spaghetti (to anybody brave enough to click the link, prepare yourself for pure nightmare fuel). While none of my music was AI generated, the original cover for my album “TEDDY BEAR” was created with generative AI (I should note that it’s since been replaced by art I made myself). I tell you this because I know I’m not the first person to scream into the void about AI, nor will I be the last; but I hope that I can provide some sort of insight on how harmful it can be for artists.
For example, AI technology has seeped its way into various areas of music: mixing, mastering, cover art generation, even the ability to make songs all by itself. With its ability to generate a studio-ready song in a matter of minutes, streaming services have been flooded with AI music over the last couple of years. The scariest part is that it has only gotten harder to detect what’s real and what’s fake. 97% of respondents to a recent Ipsos/Deezer survey said they can’t tell the difference between fully AI-generated and human-made music.
In today's climate, getting your music heard can sometimes feel like nothing more than a numbers game; especially when platforms like TikTok largely reward quantity over quality (see Blu’s recent article about The New Payola). Despite using it previously, the uprising of AI art was actually the reason I almost quit making music entirely (especially as it got a lot more realistic). When the current landscape expects you to push out as much as you can as often as possible, it gets exhausting. Trying to live up to those expectations began to strain aspects of my relationships with friends, my family, my partner, and my art. My hope in humanity waned when I realized how many people didn’t care who was behind the music or art, or even if that person was actually just a machine. That same survey found that over 66% of music streaming users say they would listen to 100% AI-generated music at least once, out of curiosity.
But for all the angst I’ve gotten from AI’s popularity, I’ve also gained appreciation for the things that are unique to human made art. For example, I can’t for the life of me master a song. I’ve learned my way through it over the years, but it’s by no means professional. But I’ve learned to appreciate my music's flaws.
AI is quickly embedding itself into modern culture, with no signs of dying out anytime soon. Despite that, I want to remind everybody that art has less barrier to entry than it has in the past. And while it may seem tempting to use tools that can make your art professional grade in a matter of minutes, I think we’d all benefit from embracing the flaws in art that are uniquely human.
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