The Mary Sue: “I came in with my ex, like Selena to flex (Aye) / Bumpin’ Justin Bieber, the fever ain’t left (Aye) / She know what need, yeah, Anita she blessed (Aye) / Givin’ you my best (Aye)” raps Drake on the viral TikTok song “Heart on My Sleeve”—only it isn’t Drake. Instead, it’s an AI generation of his vocals.
Now, that AI song has been submitted for a Grammy.
4 comments:
A song that uses AI generated vocals generated without the consent of the artists has recently been submitted for a grammy award. I think this raises an extremely interesting moral question about AI in recording. Something about using an AI to replicate someone's voice feels wrong, but I'm not sure if it is. Their voice is their intellectual property, sure, but they didn't actually work at all to create this AI generated voice. If they had trained their own models and released it to the public, that would have been their property. But making songs and their voices public, especially in things like interviews where privacy laws aren't as enforceable? Can, and should someone be allowed to own an intangible piece of themselves? Should I be allowed to copyright my wonder for space and prosecute people who train an AI on me to experience that wonder? Because it’s not a real thing, I don’t even really know how to think about it.
There’s gonna be a lot of people defending the AI here saying that “people recorded it first the AI is basically just a filter” or “Well if the AI can be better than the people then the people just need to make better music”. However, the AI is the only reason this song is at all popular. If it just wanted to change the tone of the person’s voice it could have just done that instead of using the voice of a famous rapper. I am not against AI by any means, it’s helped us quite a bit and can further help optimize many things, however this is an egregious use of AI. The use of AI to create “art” of any kind using the art of artists that have not consented to this is not original art nor is it indicative of AI being able to create art that is at all more complex than just piecing other works of art together. And in some cases not even doing that.
The art of music has always been influential, it could spread a message/ awareness, help people with anxiety, or be a common ground for some people. AI has taken flight in recent years, writing papers, in robot works, and even in the scientific fields. It has now gotten into the music industry. This is when it starts to get more interesting. Music was a creative thing that used to be so personal and touching and has now been contaminated by this helpful yet scary entity. However, it can boost popularity and create new songs and beats a human couldn’t necessarily think of. Do we utilize this tool to boost creativity? Do we keep music a more sacred thing, something that used to bring people together? It also has to do with separating the art from the artist. Will we even appreciate the artist in say, 20 years? Will AI over power the music industry? And will we even care if we are getting to hear new music in a quicker release time?
Can AI really write a good song? This question delves far beyond the realm of legality or appropriateness. It delves deep into the very essence of what it means to be human and the intrinsic value we place on creative expression. As someone who consistently advocates for artistic expression, I can't help but ponder the implications of AI-generated music. Throughout history, music has been a powerful conduit for human emotions and a reflection of our innermost thoughts and feelings. When we read Shakespeare, we equate his poetry to the emotional outpouring of song and dance in musical theater. Both are celebrated as bursts of human emotion set to rhythm. Can AI truly replicate this? Can it capture the raw intensity of human experience, the joy, the pain, the love, and the heartbreak that musicians have conveyed through their art for centuries? Moreover, we must confront the idea that AI-generated music exists in a different realm altogether, one driven by algorithms and data rather than the human experience. It begs the question: Can we truly speak to our humanity through AI-generated work? Can we relate to a piece of music that has never felt the depth of human emotion or lived the human experience?
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