“People will become conditioned and learn to accept it”: Kenny Wayne Shepherd on the threat of AI to music
Blues-rock guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd has weighed in on the threat of AI to music.
Speaking on the October issue of Classic Rock, the guitarist posits that while AI-created music is unlikely to ever measure up to songs made by humans, there’s a good chance listeners will get used to it with time.
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Asked if music created by AI could one day rival “songs by a fallible human”, Shepherd replies: “Well, the short answer is no, I don’t believe it will ever have the substance or depth. But the more likely answer is that, as with anything, people will become conditioned and learn to accept it.”
“First, it’s shocking,” he says. “Then it becomes the norm.”
Citing pop music trends as an example, Shepherd explains: “If you look at pop music, maybe I sound like a dinosaur, but it’s generally trended in a downward direction. The bar is not very high right now, but people have become accustomed to it because that’s what they’re being fed. I think AI could follow the same pattern.”
The musician is far from alone in his apprehensions about the technology. British singer-songwriter Michael Kiwanuka recently warned that AI-created music will “destroy” individuality, saying: “AI terrifies me, that’s for sure.There’ll be some creative ways to use it, but my only view is that I want to fight tooth and nail to protect individuality, which I think AI can destroy.”
“There are certain types of music that we must uphold that only works when it’s slightly broken,” Kiwanuka added. “Soul music’s one of them, for me, where the human spirit comes out and it’s rough around the edges and slightly cracked.”
“If we keep developing that kind of music, then AI can’t touch us. We need artists and music that is rough around the edges, that is real and AI can’t replicate.”
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