Artificial Intelligence technology, despite being in its relative infancy, has wormed its way into almost all job industries. Outside of technology, AI has had a huge impact on entertainment, a place where many thought it would be safe. It turns out that industries like music are a haven for AI technology to thrive.
Vocal generators can generate unique voices for artists to use without needing a human singer. Even instrumentals can be generated using AI. So, it is far from surprising that AI music artists would follow.
The indie band The Velvet Sundown is a recent example of this, accused of being made up of AI tools. By the time allegations were raised, the band had around 550,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. The backlash was swift, as well, with the band’s response denying ever using AI for their band entirely.
While it can be contested whether or not the band’s music was made with AI, the images used on the band’s various social media platforms and the little to no video evidence of the actual band members leaves some credibility to them using AI for their pictures.
Sadly, this situation proves how easy it is to support AI artists without realizing it. In a worst-case scenario, some might even still support despite knowing. Luckily, it doesn’t mean the end of the music industry. Despite the many strides AI music has made, public backlash is enough to put a stop to these “artists.”
As long as audiences care for the craft behind singing and music-making in general, people will be quick to push back against the growth of AI Music.