Is There Any Ethical Use of AI in Music?
I’ve been ranting in my previous blog posts and on my recent videos about AI and its use in music, specifically to generate music, but it’s not all bad; it also has a positive side.
Let me be clear. AI is not the enemy. Technology has always shaped music and has helped us in our lives. I use it a lot as an assistant, apps like ChatGPT and Gemini, and they’re very useful.
But there is a difference between tools and their use, and replacing human work and human creation, specifically in the topic of this blog, music.
Positive Uses of AI in music
Using AI to generate full bands, full albums, and replace musicians – that’s one thing, and it’s awful (in my opinion).
Using AI to help create visuals for a music video when a small band has no budget – that’s another, and that is a good idea.
For independent artists without resources, AI can be a tool to help them create, organize, edit, etc. But it should never erase human creativity. Also for bigger bands that want to give their videos a more modern or cyber look to their videos or images is a great idea too, and much cheaper than doing it in the traditional way.
Yet, AI should not imitate real artists, should not copy styles without credit, and should not replace people. The problem is not technology. The problem is intention and authorship. Autorship should always remain human.
So maybe the question isn’t: “Should AI exist in music?” Maybe the question is: “How do we use it responsibly?”
My video about this: