Songs Against Humanity: AI in Arts
Musicians, as artists, boast their own methods and styles of creating music. Regardless of their genres or styles, however, all are united by a single force: the desire to express our emotions and connect to the world. As a keyboard player for a rock band myself, music means so much more than just playing notes and singing; it unites people - both artists and audience and through various universal themes of humanity. Whether it's the emotional catharsis I feel when playing Liszt on a grand piano or feeling the rhythm deep in my heart and jamming along playing Nirvana with a band, music inspires and invigorates me.
Unfortunately, the landscape of music as a channel of free and creative expression is shrinking with the rise of AI technology. The advent of AI bands has begun to meddle with the music of humanity. The Velvet Sundown, for instance, is a concerning sign of what is to come from AI being used in arts. Its songs, which resemble a 70’s psychedelic rock band, have already racked millions of listeners on music streaming services such as Spotify. There is not a single human playing an instrument.
The soulless, repetitive and endless invasion of AI-generated slop on human creativity has begun.
Spotify actively promotes AI music to unsuspecting listeners on its official playlists, boosting streams massively despite the little actual effort put into the music. AI art is permitted in some art contests. There are even AI image contests in which human works are automatically disqualified. An increasing number of artists are also relying on AI to generate their album covers to save time and cost. AI is, indisputably, becoming accepted as “art.”
Humanity’s ideas and expressions have always defined us as unique species, demarcating us from other organisms and putting us at the top of the food chain. Even the earliest cavemen illustrated simple drawings on the walls with nothing but their fingers. Art is not just a form of expression; it epitomizes the dignity and power of our humanity. Let’s not allow AI to take over our dignity with its pseudo-creativity, which continuously attempts to amuse us. AI, no matter how advanced it may be, will never be able to empathize and sympathize with humanity, uniting mankind to sing “We Shall Overcome,” providing them a sense of solidarity and strength. Let’s continue playing our music with our voice, our heart, and our dreams.
