18.03.25
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AI’s champions promise democratisation, while its denouncers fear a devaluation of art as we know it. With electronic music scenes braced for impact, what exactly will the future sound like?

For the past three years, generative AI’s existential threat has dominated discourse in the creative industries. While tools like Midjourney and DALL-E 2 were catching the attention and imaginations of more tech-focused artists, the launch of Open AI’s ChatGPT in November 2022 forced both generative AI and large language models into the public consciousness. Ever since, generative AI’s development has felt like a rapid, uncontrollable and feverish acceleration towards an unknown future. The result has been a passionate polarisation of the tech’s future role in our creative process. In the past few months alone, Caribou was criticised for the use of AI voice in his album, Honey, the Oscars has come under fire after its Best Picture nominations Emilia Pérez and The Brutalist both admitted to their use of AI tools in post-production, and auction house Christie’s has been slammed for announcing its first AI art auction. The UK’s creative community also rose up against the government’s plans to amend copyright law to allow tech companies to train models on creative works without the rightsholder’s permission with a series of media campaigns and a silent protest album, highlighting the potential impact on the music industry.

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