The most offensive thing about the success of Breaking Rust, an artificial intelligence “artist” who crowned This week's Billboard Digital Song Sales chart features hit titles.
“Walk My way.”
“Living on Borrowed Time.”
The EP, which is also charting, is called “Resilient,” as if Breaking Rust had been playing for tips in empty bars for years. And perhaps it was done by Obier Rivaldo Taylor, who is credited with writing the songs. But the blues voice we hear singing about pain and suffering has overcome nothing.
In fact, you could say that this entirely computer-generated country singer achieved chart success by making fun of people. A year ago, a handful of high-profile industry figures in Nashville were wondering whether Beyoncé, who was born and raised in Texas, was good enough to make a country album. Good times. Today, AI-created artists such as Breaking Rust and Ksenia Monetcharting on the Billboard R&B charts suggest that you don't even have to be human to fit into these genres.
Eric Church, whose latest release Evangeline vs. the Machine,” was nominated for a Grammy Award this month in the Best Contemporary Country Album category. told me he's not too concerned because fans still want to see live performances and “the AI algorithm won't be able to walk on stage and play.” He says the best thing the industry can do is make AI music its own genre, with awards ceremonies devoting a separate category.
“I think it’s a fad,” he said, adding that he found it funny. “When people like a song or interact with an artist, the most important thing for them is to introduce that artist to people who also like him, and that's the ultimate reward. You can't do that with AI.”
Church wraps up the tour Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood. In addition to promoting his new album, his foundation began providing housing for Hurricane Helen victims this year using funds from a benefit concert. The North Carolina native also released a single to raise funds to help his neighbors. You know, only an artist of flesh and blood can do this. Regarding Breaking Rust, he said, “The best thing we should do is let the general public know that it's AI, because… I don't think they know that.”
“The biggest problem is the ability to deceive or manipulate people because it looks real, it sounds real, and it would be pretty disingenuous if you didn’t say it,” Church told me. “I've seen my stuff online… They take my face and put it on another body… My mom sent me one and I was like, 'Mom, that's not me.'
“That’s where it gets dangerous and that’s where it gets scary.”
If AI-created “musicians” like Breaking Rust are a passing fad, as Church suggests, then it's been 50 years in the making. Although the use of the voice box in recordings dates back to the 1960s, it was the recording of Peter Frampton's double live album Frampton Comes Alive in 1975 that popularized its use. In the 1980s, Zapp had a series of gold albums in which frontman Roger Troutman used voice box technology to give his voice a futuristic sound, and in the 1990s, AutoTune evolved from a tool used by producers to fine-tune a singer's pitch on a recording, to becoming the primary sound on a recording. It gave us Cher's number one song on the world charts is “Believe”.
For decades, technology in the studio has allowed people with voice disabilities to usurp artistry and talent.
Even before MTV debuted in 1981, we were warned that video would kill the radio star. This clearly didn't happen. And now AI-generated video could theoretically replace filmed human performances. But even this should not be a threat to real stars.
As with most things in life, when expert knowledge becomes devalued, it is easier to pass off trash as treasure. AutoTune and artificial intelligence allow people who have no musical talent to manipulate the system – like a sonic catfish.
When an artist like Church sings about heartbreak, listeners can identify with his life experiences. However, Breaking Rust is at the top of the charts with a song called “Walk My Way”… and the creature singing those words never made a move.
That doesn't mean a song about artificial intelligence can't be catchy. It certainly can be. I just wonder: if the artist is not real, then how can there be art?
YouTube: @LZGrandersonShow
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Prospects
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Ideas expressed in the work
- Artists created by artificial intelligence mock the authentic human experience by performing songs about heartbreak, suffering and resilience without actually experiencing hardship, presenting a false authenticity to audiences.[1].
- The public must be clearly informed that content is created artificially to prevent deception and manipulation, as the current situation allows industry professionals to hide the artificial nature of performers.
- AI technology allows people without real musical talent to bypass skill and experience, allowing them to game the system by presenting artificial content as legitimate art on the same charts as human musicians.
- True art requires living human experience; Without this foundation, AI-generated performances will fail to create genuine artistic expression or meaning, no matter how commercially successful they become.
- The industry should be concerned about how technology devalues experience and allows untalented creators to present something that can be “thrown away as treasure,” undermining trust in music as an art form.
Different views on the topic
- The success of AI-generated content has generated mixed reactions from audiences, with some music lovers finding entertainment and enjoyment in artificially created songs despite their artificial origins.[1].
- Some industry perspectives view AI music as an interesting experimental phenomenon to explore the possibilities of new technologies, rather than characterizing it as inherently problematic or threatening.[1].
- Audiences ultimately value live performance and a direct human connection with artists, suggesting that AI-generated artists face natural limitations that prevent them from truly replacing human musicians in the marketplace.
- Rather than categorically oppose AI-produced music, some have suggested that it should be given a separate genre or award category to distinguish it from human artistry, without excluding either form from co-existence.
- The integration of new technologies into music production has historical precedent: innovations from voice boxes to AutoTune coexist with human artistry without destroying the value of genuine musical talent.
