BENGALURU: With Lensa creating AI renditions of artwork based on uploaded photos and art available on the internet (without the explicit consent of the artists) and ChatGPT using AI to answer any question posed to it (including say, writing an article or blog post), a common conversation topic (at least in the circles I move in) is whether AI is good or bad (never ugly), and what these developments could mean for the future of creative arts (and the survival of artists).
Will AI generated art put all digital artists out of work? No. Should apps and software be allowed to use the work of artists without their explicit permission to create what could be deemed derivative works? Also no.
It also already looks like some algorithms are being taught to suppress AI generated content in search rankings (don’t fire your content writers just yet please).
In the arena of music, AI has been around in many capacities. If you think Spotify’s ability to generate playlists is magic, it’s AI. Apple acquired a company called Asaii, and Warner Music Group also uses AI to determine which talent to sign (and who is most likely to be, based on social media and other parameters, a star). However, when we think of AI in music, we expect something a little more dramatic and/or controversial.
A few years ago, a university showcased a new composition of Bach, with the only catch being that it wasn’t made by the composer (who died in 1750), but by AI that had studied all his work, and managed to create something in his style that was virtually indistinguishable from his other works.
Experiments in Musical Intelligence by David Cope has been working on AI creating original compositions in various genres and styles for three decades now. Amper, an AI based tool, helps creators make royalty-free music after inputting their parameters, in a few seconds.
Drowned in the Sun is an AI created song in the style of Nirvana that was then recorded by a Nirvana tribute band. Where it gets messy is in the case of FN Meka, an AI artist created by Factory New and signed to Capitol Music Group, who was dropped from the label for “perpetuating racist stereotypes”. It led to the continuation of the debate on how biases and prejudice are transferred into AI, and how we must take steps to prevent it.
As AI continues to progress in many ways, for now, the artists and creators are safe.