AI Rant

I get some fierce knocking about the use of AI in the creation of visuals for my songs, mostly from creatives. It momentarily annoys rather than bothers me. The mere fact that I can achieve the end results I set out to visually, and in many cases exceed those makes it worth the learning and effort. I sing at a level that I would find unacceptable for public performance but is fine for demos, the fact that I am a creator rather than a performer means that AI has become an exceptional tool for mastering. It is also extremely handy in bringing ideas together relatively quickly. Here is an example:

I tried for months to find a female vocalist, a bass guitarist, and a violinist that I could pay good money to record my work but all were either too busy or failed to respond, which in some ways defeats the argument that AI is killing gigging musicians. Thankfully, AI technology came along at the right time, I can now translate my vocal and lyrics into an AI generated vocal if I choose to, create a unique bass or violin for my song if I choose or harmonise with my own vocal track. At the very least I can have my studio recorded tracks mastered professionally through Ai. Another worthwhile outcome is being able to hear my songs from another perspective by creating a style genre.

I find it surprising that many ‘musicians’ react to AI in such an adverse way, rather than seeing it as an opportunity to develop their own creativity or at the very least another tool to use in their creative process. What really gets under my skin though,  is the fact that some of these critics are up to their necks in AI technology through their phones, tv’s and recording equipment, plus a whole plethora of software (digital) that has been used in the creative process for decades. AI is within virtually every piece of hardware and software most people are currently using and that includes musical equipment whether you like it or not, and unless you are a purist who only performs acoustically with an acoustic instrument and never records, then you will be engaging somewhere along your timeline with AI, for sure. I prefer to have the option of both worlds and use them to the best of my ability either singularly or together.

My approach to songwriting is exploratory both in genre and expression as I continue to develop and discover my own bias in aesthetics, nuances and style and those who know me will instantly know which songs are in that category. 

Likewise with my photography, I started out in a darkroom creating my images with chemicals in a tray with photographic paper, I then adopted and adapted to the digital revolution in photography and incorporated that into my workflow through the digital darkroom. Being open to and able to explore new techniques and technology is a benefit both in terms of what you can learn from it and how you can utilize it in your own creative path. If you do not like AI in the creative process then that's your prerogative but to condemn and knock others by using a bunch of conclusions generically borrowed from others is devoid of any personal substance, in my opinion. At least if you have tried using AI as a tool and come up with your own conclusion and constructive reasoning for not using it......I fully respect that opinion.  Not sure how to end this rant apart from saying:   

Lighten up, life is very short, create your own beauty in whatever way you can and release it to the world, as the world sure needs it.