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AI in Music: The Cost of Replacing Human Creativity with Algorithms


In a world that is dominated by technology, we are witnessing something remarkable, and unsettling at the same time happening within the music industry. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in music is reshaping the way music is created, as well as challenging the essence of creativity and human expression. Is AI the future of music, or the death of what makes music appreciated? While AI-generated music may seem like an impressive discovery, it raises questions about the future of human creativity and the role that technology plays in art.

In this day and age, AI can generate entire songs within seconds, getting rid of the hours or days of hard work and troubleshooting in the creative process that used to define the songwriting process. All people have to do now to create an entire song is go on a computer or any device that allows browsing the web and search up tools, for example, ChatGPT or Magenta. These tools make it easier than ever to produce music and lyrics with little to no human involvement in the process. The article “Understanding Google Magenta: An Overview of Google’s Open-Source Music and Art Project” (Mishra) talks about how Magenta uses machine learning to create music and art. Mishra talks about how Magenta is based on a neural network that is trained through a large dataset of other music and art. The article states that one of Magenta’s most significant features is that it can generate sounds that have never been heard or made before. This innovation is revolutionary for the future of music, but are we sacrificing authenticity for the sake of efficiency?

Music has always been an outlet for humans to express the depth of their emotions or experiences—from love and joy to heartbreak and sorrow. How can AI tools possibly make a new sound to life experiences, and possibly recreate the true emotional power that a human musician can convey? Imagine listening to a song where everything is perfectly crafted and every single note is played on beat and not a millisecond off-time. The song would sound perfect of course, but it would be lacking the raw emotion that makes music appreciated in the first place. It is the soul of music that connects us to our humanity, something that AI will never be able to replace. Consider The Beatles, one of the most influential bands whose music defined generations. Their music was not flawless, it was real. They embraced their imperfections and those imperfections only made their fans appreciate the music more. An article titled, “6 Famous Mistakes Found in Beatles Songs” (Casalena) describes the imperfect production of some of The Beatles songs and how it only adds to their charm. For example, in their hit song, “Ob-La-Di-Ob-La-Da” Paul McCartney accidentally switches up the names Molly and Desmond in the song and the lyrics don’t make much sense. The band ended up laughing it off and keeping it in the final recording. Moments like this are hardly noticeable, but end up making the song by showing the human touch behind the music while showing their joy and carefree nature. This sense of imperfection, which is often dismissed in today's AI generated music, is what makes human-created music resonate on a deeper level.

AI is a groundbreaking innovation, but we need to set a boundary to make sure that technology doesn’t completely replace human creativity and expression. The popularity of AI is only growing in today's age and raises a concerning reality: our younger generations may totally avoid learning real instruments if they have the ability to generate entire songs with the push of a button. Why spend the hours of practice it takes learning guitar, piano, or drums when AI can create a perfect track in seconds? This shift can undermine the tradition that has made our music appreciated for centuries, leaving us with a new culture that values convenience over creativity. As a society that prioritizes hard work and tradition, we must consider an important question: do we want to cultivate a generation that passively consumes art and music, or do we aim to motivate the next generation of musicians to hone their skills and uphold the authentic essence of music? 


While AI definitely has the potential to assist musicians with their creativity, it should never become a substitution for human creativity. Instead used as a tool to enhance today's age of the music scene. Technology is only evolving and we might as well make use of it, but it should never completely replace our tradition of human creativity and expression in music. We must find a balance to ensure the future of our music is a harmonious blend of innovation and creativity. 



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