I was watching a YouTube video and noticed I was bobbing my head and vibing with the background track. I thought to myself, “I wonder if this is A.I.” As a musician, I understand this is a heavy subject in the world right now. We don’t fully understand the repercussions or the full effect of new technology, as it happens. Hell, nobody understood just how big the internet would be when it first arrived.
The immediate reaction for some, is that this is a slight on humanity and it is taking away from artists and musicians. Others see it as a new tool in their toolkit. I’m not entirely sure where my opinion lies on the matter, to be honest. I’m usually a very neutral person and I try to see everything from all angles. I could be using A.I. to create this message right now. Another way of thinking about it is – the end result is the same. If you really think about it. I used a tool to do a thing. The problem is, I didn’t use much critical or creative thinking. Sure, I may have typed in a prompt, but that wouldn’t have taken much. Maybe, I gave some input and made a few revisions. Now, I’m starting to get to a respectable level. Right? I don’t know. If the song I was just listening to in that video was created by A.I., I surely wasn’t aware of that when I was bobbing my head and vibing with the song.
Others argue it takes away jobs from creative, hard-working musicians and artists. Or did it just create a new artist or musician and this is their new tool. I can’t be certain. There are major implications across the board. Part of me leans toward rejecting A.I.. I gotta say it feels odd to end a sentence with two periods. Am I even supposed to do that? I’m going to have to look that up real quick. Okay, I’m back. A.I. says, “No, you do not use two periods; the period in the abbreviation (like A.I.) serves as the sentence’s final punctuation mark, so you only use one period at the end of the sentence to avoid double punctuation. For example, write “She’s studying A.I.” not “She’s studying A.I..”” Okay, now I have to look up if you’re supposed to use two quotation marks like that. I know, I know. Yes, I went to school. It’s been a rough week. Okay, I’m back. Actually, A.I. wasn’t that helpful on this, it didn’t quite understand what I was saying. Maybe it was me. But I found an article by Brittney Ross called “How to Use Quotation Marks” so I’m taking a look at that. According to Brittney, “The main quote is enclosed in double quotation marks, and the quote within it is enclosed in single quotation marks.” So that sentence from earlier should have read:
A.I. says, “No, you do not use two periods; the period in the abbreviation (like A.I.) serves as the sentence’s final punctuation mark, so you only use one period at the end of the sentence to avoid double punctuation. For example, write ‘She’s studying A.I.’ not ‘She’s studying A.I..’” I may have still gotten that wrong. I’m a dumb human. Anyway…
What I do know is I have faith in humanity. I think that humans have soul and they recognize soul. Especially when it matters. The video I was watching was of a couple guys reviewing a board game. Wherever the track came from, it worked. I was jamming, subconsciously. And I do understand, the whole “algo rhythm” side to all of this. Some say that A.I. is creating a sum of all parts situation and utilizing the works of many artists to create something new. I don’t know where this will all land; legally, ethically, morally. It’s a jumbled mess like most things. But I do have faith in mankind and I would like to think that whatever happens was meant to happen and musicians and artists are going to be just fine. We just do it better.
“I’ve got soul and I’m super bad.” – A.I. James Brown
Swimming With Sharks Entertainment 