There is a lot of talk about the use of AI in music, and in art in general. Multiple reports suggest people cannot tell the difference between AI generated content, and art, literature or music that springs from human creativity.

On one hand, you might ask “Why does it matter?” If people enjoy a piece of graphic art, or a song, what does it matter if it was created by AI or a human artist? Just enjoy it anyway. There is some truth in this. If something is beautiful, it is beautiful regardless of how it came to be. I have copied a couple of graphic art examples below.

In addition, it is worth remembering that AI does not simply copy the work of human artists. It learns in the same way we do. It measures and asks questions: “People like this, this goes with that, if that works here, will it work there, could we try this…” It is able to conduct those calculations much more quickly than we can, and draw on a far wider range of courses.

Nor is it a simple one way process; AI being parasitic on human creativity. Humans can learn from AI just as AI learns from work generated by humans.

Nonetheless all AI creations have their basis in human effort and intelligence. Despite its name, AI is not intelligent. It doesn’t actually think. Nor, and this is more to the point, it doesn’t feel. It does not know joy, heartbreak, longing, or hope. Since art is not merely about bare facts, but about expressing feelings and telling the story of human experience, this is a major, built-in, and unavoidable shortcoming.

A recent BBC article notes “If it doesn’t feel emotional, it’s a really big part. Does it create that tension and resolution that is a fundamental part of the music that we love? Does it have a story inside it?” https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5ylzjj5wzwo

AI has become an essential part of the music industry. Even our (Hitstax) work, with words and melodies entirely the result of human creativity, makes some use of AI in instrumentation and mastering.

Hopefully we get the right balance between high production standards and real emotion and story-telling. Here are a couple of examples. The first, The Tale Of Margaret Lee, is based on a pioneer Wild West story of a young school teacher who seeks retribution for the murder of the children in her school. The second, Long Road Home is about finding new hope and purpose in the face of betrayal and love turned sour.

We have backgrounds and interests in a wide variety of musical styles: Hard rock, Gospel, Country, Blues, Bollywood/Bhangra. These two songs are both in our home style of blues/country rock.

The Tale of Margaret Lee: https://soundcloud.com/hitst…/2-the-tale-of-margaret-lee-2

Long Road Home: https://open.spotify.com/track/5lLeXhGqyOfcOasBJNpdSX