The Art of AI: The Source Matters, The Tool Doesn’t

One day, while I was deeply focused on work, my YouTube playlist leaped out of its bounds and started playing a song I had never heard before. This usually breaks my focus and prompts me to loop back to my original playlist. However, the new sound caught my attention and piqued my interest—folky fantasy music. I still don’t know what genre it is, but the storyteller in me was hooked. It was as though I had discovered something rare and special, so I let YouTube bring me more. And by the end of the day, I had accumulated ten new songs to my regular playlist, and for the week that followed, all I listened to was these songs, on repeat until I had them memorized.

Whenever the rush of this new discovery showed signs of lessening, I would slide into the creators’ playlists and find more songs. It baffled me how little these creators were recognized. Perhaps the genre had a very specific audience, or perhaps it was due to the fact that they were relatively new (less than six months old). In my search, I stumbled upon a comment that made my worst fears come true: I can’t believe this is AI-generated.  

I searched for a comment that might deny it, but there wasn’t any. I did my research and discovered it was true. There was no running away from it; I had fallen in love with AI-generated songs. I took a moment to let it sink in, and then one by one, each song started to fall out of favor. I went on a purging spree, fueled by disappointment and hurt. I was hurt! I felt cheated and tricked! How dare you not disclose such crucial information? I thought I made a connection with another person. What do you mean it’s AI? How much of it is AI? Is it the music? Is it the voices? The lyrics?!

I would’ve enjoyed and appreciated the songs regardless, probably just as much. But now I can’t, because I don’t really know where the heart of the song resides anymore. I don’t really know how to find the person behind them. Because that’s what art does, it connects people to other people. Now I listen with detachment.

Yes, I still listen to them. My ears enjoy the music, and my mind enjoys the image. There is no denying that I think they are good songs. I liked them enough to obsess over them, and that’s very rare for me. So, I console myself with the fact that while I can’t place where the heart resides, I can feel it beating.

The songs didn’t generate themselves; they were prompted. There was heavy human intervention, human effort, and human creativity involved. The desire to create and connect is undeniable. The creator simply didn’t have all of the traditional tools or skills.

My mind writes songs, but I can’t sing or produce music. Traditionally, I would write the lyrics, then borrow someone’s musical skill to create the melody, then borrow another person’s skill to produce the sounds, and finally, I would borrow someone’s voice to sing it. I found a way to produce what my mind created, but my skills couldn’t. And I can still call the creation my own because what I did was hire skills and use them as tools, not as sources of creation. The heart I poured into the songs belongs to me, and it doesn’t beat any less because I involved other people in it.

AI is a tool. As it is now, that’s all it can be. If you’ve ever tried to create using it, you know the suffering it takes to make it align with what you envision. I have never, not once, used an image as it is; there is always retouching and editing. There’s a limit to how much AI can compensate for the skills you lack.

Sometimes it’s obvious when something has been AI-generated, and sometimes it’s not. And whether that’s due to heavy human involvement or the constant improvement of AI remains unclear until you investigate further. And sometimes, you miss the red flags because the possibility didn’t even cross your mind. I knew AI was being used to generate songs, but not this way: cohesive albums with depth, meaning, and story, emotionally versatile and human voices, and passion. I sensed passion! It was too good to raise suspicion, and that’s what broke my heart.

And I can’t know who was responsible for what if the artist doesn’t disclose this information. I can’t tell how much of the artist is really there. I’ll enjoy your creation, just tell me where to find you, or at least make it clear.  

I have nothing against AI-generated art. At the end of the day, we all have the capacity and desire to create. I can go and learn to read music and play an instrument and come back with a completely different song, but the song is just the medium I’m using to express the same feelings and thoughts that I tethered to my words.

My words are the most important element in anything I express. So, what I want from any artist using AI is their tether, one that has been protected from influence, be it human or artificial. That tether is what connects us; let it completely represent you.

Because the source matters, and it will forever matter. And the debate over what classifies as art is a tale as old as time. Intent and meaning belong to the creator. And when it is no longer clear whose intent and what meaning it represents, the piece of art becomes tainted. I can continue to enjoy the songs for what they currently represent to me, but until MightyW Project make themselves known, until they make their intentions and meaning clear, I shall do so with caution.