will.i.am and Sean Paul on embracing artificial intelligence in music
How artificial intelligence will affect our lives going forward is a question being figured out across pretty much all industries right now.
While many in the arts have expressed concerns over how algorithms learn from their work, Black Eyes Peas star will.i.am believes it actually should “inspire you to create”.
An early artificial intelligence supporter, he says: “If you’re basing what you’re going to do tomorrow off yesterday, you’re not growing.”
The music producer spoke to Sky News after giving a demo of his new AI radio app in London.
Rather than artificial intelligence being something with negative connotations, he insists its potential should “inspire better, broader, deeper, faster…[it] shouldn’t stop you from being human”.
The Black Eyed Peas star told Sky News AI should ‘inspire you to create’
As one of the most prominent voices to position himself in the pro-AI camp, his enthusiasm is certainly infectious.
Those who turned out to see the demonstration of his app-based platform RAiDiO.FYI got to see the musician and tech entrepreneur challenge one of his AI personas to make a joke comparing computer chips and guacamole chips with reasonably funny results.
He hopes listeners will come to interact and talk with AI presenters in the not-too-distant future.
But is it a gimmick or a taste of the future?
Sky News put it to will that some of his musical counterparts worry AI – with its instant ability for anyone to make a song in his style – waters down the music industry.
“I don’t think anything can water down our industry any more than TikTok has,” he responded.
“We used to listen to three-minute songs, now we’re down to nine seconds….TikTok and that algorithm, you know, changes what record companies are looking for, changes the architecture of the song… it’s watered down…we an ocean (sic).”
Sean Paul on embracing AI
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Sean Paul explains how he uses AI
But Jamaican dancehall musician Sean Paul isn’t entirely won over by AI’s potential.
“It’s a pandora’s box,” the rapper said, speaking to Sky News, “when you open it, it’s going to change all the parameters. It’s down to you to get used to the game.”
“I am apprehensive about certain parts of [it] in terms of making people lazy to writing”, the 52-year-old, who has worked with countless stars over his 20-year career, said.
“It can become a toy and make music more dispensable.”
Sean Paul. Pic: AP Photo/Matt Sayles
He said he recognises there are copyright and ethical considerations with using AI in the music-making process – especially where algorithms are concerned and they may mimic popular sounds.
He said: “If it does happen that AI takes my stuff and I’m never compensated because of it (…) I will fight that.
“It’s gonna happen. Already though, I feel me, the artist, the creator, I’ve got the short end of the stick for a long time. Even before the days of streaming – we get 0.0 something of the product – and it’s we that created it.”
AI as a ‘tool’
However, he also acknowledged that “times have changed” – and that adapting is key to surviving the ever-changing music industry.
Paul says none of his published music has been touched by AI – but he is open to experimenting with it.
“I’ve used it for trying to finish riddim patterns that I have….I used it as a tool… as I think everybody should.”
Some big names in music, like Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Elton John, have openly called for a legal framework to be established to better protect artists, which will.i.am agrees is paramount “to not always lead with greed, especially with powerful systems” like AI.
“There needs to be some type of artificial intelligence constitution….I believe you should be licensed to put out AIs right now and you’re not.”
AI and copyright concerns
Over 1,000 artists, from Damon Albarn to Kate Bush, recently released a silent album to protest possible changes to UK copyright AI laws.
Dubbed ‘Is This What We Want?’, its aim was to highlight concern for how their work is potentially being used to develop and train the technology.
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While the likes of will.i.am and Sean Paul may be open to seeing where the technology takes them, Alastair Webber believes the government should be taking control rather than loosening the reins.
The co-founder of The Other Songs, an independent music company championing songwriters and artists, says: “We must protect copyright because it really is the economic bedrock of the creative industries that bring so much back.”
The son of composer Lord Lloyd Webber, he believes while it’s important that big figures within the industry like his father are vocal with their concerns, the stand they’re taking is actually for those with their careers ahead of them.
“We’re not talking about these big names like Andrew Lloyd Webber or Elton John, all these people that are getting the headlines supporting this, actually [this matters more] for the young people being born today.”
Entertainment
‘I’m shocked at how fragile I am still’: Cumberbatch and Colman on protecting their sanity from perils of social media
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch says he’s shocked at how “fragile” he still is – despite years in the spotlight and success in the industry.
It might seem like the Doctor Strange star and The Crown actress Olivia Colman have it all when it comes to money and success – but they are also human like the rest of us.
The pair lead the cast of new satirical black comedy The Roses, which sees picture-perfect couple Ivy and Theo Rose – a rising star chef and ambitious architect – raise their two children in California, while chasing their own dreams.
‘I am shocked at how fragile I am’
But behind its dark humour and comic language, the film also looks at the realities of power imbalance, insecurity and wounded pride – in even the strongest of relationships.
And 49-year-old Cumberbatch – whose character faces a major setback in his career – tells Sky News that in real life the glare of social media only intensifies those type of situations.
“I am shocked at how fragile I am still.
“I don’t go anywhere near it [social media] because of that.
“It’s like walking into a place where people want to marry you or kill you. Those extremes.
“I think we will get to a stage, a corporate culture that’s now manifested around it where people are obliged to do that in order to sell their lives, and therefore their brand and what they do for a living.”
Co-star Colman – who’s long-shunned the online world – agrees.
Cumberbatch and Colman in The Roses. Pic: Jaap Buitendijk/ Searchlight Pictures
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“I’m afraid I am very thin-skinned.
“I don’t look at any of it. My husband will look at a review and if it’s nice he’ll show me – but if it’s anything mean he knows to just go ‘don’t look – don’t look.’
“You just have to learn to be thicker-skinned.
“But actually, I think we need people who are sensitive and kind.”
‘Don’t do it… delete it all’
Colman – now 51, and whose leading role in The Favourite bagged her an Academy Award in 2019 – says no amount of experience and success can shield her from criticism.
“My advice to a young’un – sort of dipping their toe into the world of social media for the first time is absolutely don’t do it.
“Delete it all. If you want a happy life, don’t have any of it. I’ve never had it.”
The movie – directed by Meet The Parents’ Jay Roach with The Favourite screenwriter Tony McNamara – also calls into question the notion of success – asking, is it really possible to have it all?
Or is sacrifice inevitable when it comes to spinning the plates of a high-flying career, marriage and parenthood?
Cumberbatch admits “you can’t do it all without there being a cost”.
“You just have to weigh up what those balances are,” he adds.
Colman says “there are I suppose little sacrifices along the way” – from both sides of a relationship.
The comedy drama offers a fresh take on Warren Adler’s novel The War Of The Roses – and the 1989 hit film adaptation- starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.
Colman and Cumberbatch – both producers on the film – insist they weren’t daunted by that though.
“We wanted to find a project to do together, and we have utter respect for the iconic status of the film and book,” explains Cumberbatch.
“Hopefully this will have its own place in the culture – it’s very different, it’s not a remake – it’s a reimagined jumping-on point.”
“But beyond that, it’s very different,” adds Colman.
Former Doctor Who Ncuti Gatwa and Barbie’s Kate McKinnon also form the cast.
The Roses is out in UK cinemas now.
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