What does it mean to be human? It's probable that more people are asking that question now than at any other time in the history of the human race.
AI is pushing us to define the idea of "humanity " more precisely and completely. We're capable of building a machine that forces us to ask questions about the nature of intelligence, the definition of the "creative process," and the boundaries of human consciousness.
The Deep View senior reporter Nat Rubio-Licht, a musician by training and preference, writes about AI and "notes the word 'democratization' has been thrown around a lot, often referencing the tech's ability to put the tools of knowledge and creation into anyone's hands."
Some AI-generated musical pieces sound very good, very polished. The music flows naturally, and only a trained ear can tell that it wasn't created by a human being.
An AI viral country song, "Walk My Walk," credited to fictional, AI-generated persona Breaking Rust, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Country Digital Song Sales chart, though industry experts noted it gained the spot with relatively modest digital sales (around $3,000) rather than widespread traditional radio or streaming dominance.
It's catchy, but doesn't it sound like a dozen other country hits? I think it's supposed to.
To be sure, the category in which the song is No. 1 is Digital Music Sales, which is only for tracks that have been purchased on a site like Apple Music.
When AI can equal human capabilities of creation, without the sweat, inspiration, and effort of a mind and soul behind it, it threatens to challenge the "uniqueness of human beings," Carmine-Emanuele Cella, a professor and composer who serves as co-director of the University of California, Berkeley’s Center for New Music and Audio Technologies, told The Deep View.
Professor Cella believes AI can be a powerful tool for musicians, but when a machine does the creating for you, "It's like playing against a gray entity that I will never be able to win against, and it doesn't make sense for me to play anymore."
"Is it still important to be bad at something to appreciate how hard it is to be good?" asks Rubio-Licht.
The Deep View:
In AI's nascent state, it's entirely possible that the novelty of the tech will enable the human tendency to do things the easy way. Why would we not use a generative model to create viable lyrics from simple prompts, to turn our pitchy and flat vocals into something radio-worthy, or fill out our scratch acoustic demo takes with a full orchestra? This may be especially tempting as a dwindling pool of people are able to actually pick apart the difference between AI and authentic with the naked ear. As Armin van Buuren, a Dutch Grammy-nominated DJ and producer, told me, "It's very easy to be lazy."
But my perspective, however, could just be that of an anthropological pessimist—and a simplification of what it means to be a musician. For instance, Robert Prey, professor of digital culture at Oxford University, made the point that while AI could enable everyone to be a baseline decent creator of music, it still takes time, skill and drive to become a virtuoso.
The best that AI will ever be able to create will be "average" or "above average." This includes music, drama, novels, and any creative human endeavor that requires something more than impeccable technique or technical perfection.
AI "allows everyone to be good enough, not really good, but to be good enough," said Robert Prey, professor of digital culture at Oxford University. "I still think there's a huge difference between a true musician creating a song and somebody who doesn't have that skillset or mindset that you'll find in a true artist."
The most profound difference between AI and human creators is the absolute joy one feels when you sing something, or write something, that you know in your soul is good or better than good; it's special.
"There is something deeply gratifying about knowing that you can create something with your own effort and imagination," writes Rubio-Licht. "To put down the palette or listen back to a recording and know that it came from you and no one (or nothing) else."
That's a rush that no machine or Large Language Model will ever be able to encode or imprint on any chip. That's because no matter how close AI ever gets to aping humans, it won't have a soul to inspire us.
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