AI-generated music: Convincingly human?
AS I SEE IT
By Rev. Jim Innes
ONE DAY, while I was listening to a playlist on Spotify, a phenomenal song I’d never heard before captured my ear.
“Why have I not heard this before? Is it new? Who is this singing?” I spent time searching and, to my amazement, discovered it was AI-generated.
I was struck by how realistic it sounded. Using advanced computational techniques, these AI systems can not only enhance a singer’s existing vocals and instruments, but also generate entirely new, convincingly human melodic voices and unbelievably catchy, genre-specific tunes.
Once I realized it was tech-generated, I turned it off immediately. I tensed up, even feeling a bit angry. I had been unwittingly fooled into thinking I was listening to a human performer. It left me wondering: how many times has this happened before?
I immediately texted my children to tell them what had happened. They replied, “Oh yeah, we don’t listen to that stuff.” I suddenly felt out of touch with my music world and wondered how they could tell the difference.
Determined to be in control, I asked the AI DJ to play some easy-listening blues and to avoid anything AI-generated. The DJ replied, “I cannot understand your request.” I had to laugh. It felt almost as if the AI were protecting itself.
AI DJ became part of my Spotify not too long after it first came out. At first, I was enthralled by how it took me on an interesting journey with different music selections. I discovered new artists and could listen to a favourite genre for most of the evening.
Now, however, I’m extremely cautious. I don’t particularly enjoy AI-generated music. On one level, I can recognize the real creativity and artistry in how these systems generate songs. But emotionally, something about it feels false. The music seems to lose some of its soul once I find out that it’s not a human performance.
AI‑generated music leaves me uneasy about the impact it’s having on the industry. A recent survey of thousands of songwriters and composers in Australia and New Zealand described increasing anxiety around the rapid growth of AI‑generated music. This anxiety stems from income risks, questions of appropriate consent and compensation, and even the potential to trample cultural understandings (AI & Music Survey, APRA AMCOS, 2024). On top of that, there are the ethical questions of technological creativity versus human artistry: what might be lost when we remove the person behind the performance?
I now find myself listening more carefully, trying to sort out which songs are tech‑created and which still flow completely from the human touch. I’m slowly learning to notice the tells, like when something suddenly sounds almost too good from an artist I’ve never heard of before.
As I see it, AI is impressive. There is no denying its impact around us. Its creative power can, in many ways, be genuinely helpful. But I also think a warning light needs to be flashing. Too often, we don’t realize what we’re giving up or what’s quietly being reshaped until it’s already too late.
Rev. Jim Innes is the rector of St. John's, Grand Bend with St. Anne's, Port Franks.