A rant about AI art and music.

I can say for sure that within five years, 8 out of the top ten pop songs on the charts will be generated by AI, but I am not worried about me being replaced at all.

First of all, regarding "what AI creates will never be as good as real people", I can say for sure that it will change in the future.

I've tried the beta model of Udio, and asked it to generate a Hans Zimmer-style cinematic ambient track, and it did a great job. The music generated by the current version are sonically superior to more than 75% of popular pop music. With the further development of neural networks of different models and more training, the songs generated by AI will only become better than human's in terms of mixing, mastering, etc. It will eventually be able to write new harmonies that no one has ever thought of, and achieve the "theoretically perfect" mixing and mastering.

But I don't think this will be a bad thing. I don't like the modern music industry. All songs should be named as "products" rather than music. Write some rhyming lyrics, design some catchy sounds, and make up three and a half minutes. Not to mention that a lot of popular pop music has huge deficiencies in mixing and mastering. The "theoretically perfect" songs produced by AI entering the market will indirectly raise the level of the music industry.

Second, regarding "AI-generated things are soulless", I think that whether it is music, painting, film, installation, sculpture or any other art form, what makes it art is that it is a way for artists to express and convey their emotions and thoughts. Industrialised works are products without souls. And pop music is the most iconic example of "selling souls for numbers". It is so hard for me to feel that the music of many pop artists contains any of their emotions, especially EDM and hip-hop artists. Many of their works has actually no differences from products just like cars made in factories, waiting to be sold. In that case, there is no reason for them not to be replaced by AI. However, this is exactly why I think AI can never replace real artists.

As mentioned above, art should be a way for artists to express themselves and what they want to express, so the art they create is valuable to themselves and those who resonate with their art. Sometimes I add chromatic movements to my music, or cut off the high end of a kick, not because they are necessary, but because it is more in line with the emotions I want to express. I wish to find a university to do education after graduation, and to hold art exhibitions from time to time to showcase my art to the world, so I am not worried that AI will replace me. If you really love music or your art, and really express your thoughts and feelings through your art, then you don’t have to worry at all too.

I saw this comment under the open letter of the Artist Rights Alliance:

"hello gatekeeping! do you feel threatened that creative expression is being made accessible to people who didn't have years to master an instrument? good. "

The only appropriate word i could think of is bruh. I don’t know when people will understand that even if the AI labels the generated work as "your creations", it is not your creation. It is a work created by the AI through the prompt you typed in. It is an expression of the AI, and it is never yours.

-- Callista Wang, 6th of June, 2024

*originally written in chinese