AI-Produced Music Undermines Creativity and Humanity of Musicians

By Ahana Mandal

For millennia, music has brought people together to enjoy and reflect on past memories, from the days of the large orchestral symphonies to modern-day pop songs that lie in our playlists. However, there is now an emergence of a different kind of music—one that isn’t produced or written by a human but composed by AI. 

Many people have begun experimenting with AI to compose songs mimicking the styles of modern-day artists—a month ago, the popular classical music channel TwoSet Violin released a video where they utilized AI music creator, Suno, to compose pieces of music based on a user-inputted prompt. While the program wasn’t able to compose pieces similar to complex compositions like Bach duets, when it was given the prompt to make a “heartbreak pop ballad about losing a violin competition," the song created left TwoSet in disbelief, leaving them “questioning every pop song that’s coming out now.” The ability for AI to eerily create a pop song indistinguishable as AI-generated raises concerns about not only artists using this kind of technology to create art but also showcases the risk that artificial intelligence could replace modern-day pop artists.

There are also other concerns when it comes to AI being used in the music industry. In 2023, a song featuring artists Bad Bunny and Justin Bieber began circulating around TikTok, gaining millions of likes - but it wasn’t them. According to Time Magazine, an “artist named FlowGPT had used AI technology to recreate the voices of Bad Bunny, Bieber and Daddy Yankee in a reggaeton anthem” (Chow). Bad Bunny was upset over the creation of the song, but fans of the artists whose voices were featured loved it despite it not being a genuine collaboration. AI’s ability to create songs that use the voices of modern-day artists without permission brings concern from both artists and music lovers who believe that using artists’ voices without permission breaks copyright laws, especially if they have access to that artist’s discography and use AI to create a song similar to that artist’s style. 

However, many universities have integrated AI into their music programs, teaching music students how to use AI to streamline the process of composing music. Ohio University professor, Josh Antonuccio created an “AI in Media Production and Storytelling” course, a goal of his was to allow his students to have access to cutting-edge AI tools. This was so students could experiment in different areas like music production, video editing, transcription and generative art platforms. Despite the risks with AI using the likenesses and digital images of artists without consent, Antonuccio believes that “art is art, and the technology of the last 100 years, in particular, has enabled artists to achieve extraordinary creative feats. AI is now a part of that continuum, albeit with a much more powerful toolset” (Semancik). 

Ultimately, AI is here to stay, and with it, new doors are opening–some to opportunity, others to danger. AI can help bring out small artists in the competitive music industry, but with it comes the dark possibility of artists being replaced by the very same technology. 

But like everything in our world, all aspects of music, from the writing process to the composition itself, must maintain a balance. In every song, the melody captivates, but it’s the supportive harmony that makes it shine. 

And like the harmony, AI must never replace the heart of music—the human creativity behind it.