AI’s Musical Debut

The entertainment industry as we know it no longer exists. This past Thursday, Jan. 19, the 97th Academy Awards nominations were announced, sparking a new flame in the ongoing artificial intelligence debate.

Two of the highest nominated movies, “The Brutalist” and “Emilia Perez,” used some form of artificial intelligence in their productions. “The Brutalist” editor, Dávid Jancsó, claimed to use AI to edit some sounds of a Hungarian dialogue between the film’s two main characters played by Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones. In “Emilia Perez,” AI cloning was used to enhance the singing voice of actress Karla Sofía Gascón.



As Brody, Jones and Gascón are nominated for their performances in these films, people are questioning whether they deserve these nominations and are opening more prominent debates about the use of AI in creative processes. Artificial intelligence has been heavily used for sound editing, but also grows in popularity for other aspects such as writing, idea generation, voice cloning and many other jobs that make up the entertainment industry. This has become detrimental to artists in the music industry in particular.

Music streaming service Deezer was the first to develop an AI detection tool for its platform and said 10% of the music entering the platform daily is fully AI-generated. The use of artificial intelligence in music is increasing, and with that are the consequences that come with it. Using artificial intelligence in a creative medium like music takes away from the work of artists, songwriters, producers and others by replacing them with a machine.

What many people fail to realize when it comes to artificial intelligence is that these technologies are trained. For artificial intelligence to create these types of songs and ideas, it has to learn about them. To do so, AI developers utilize copyrighted content from other artists.

Therefore, the knowledge these artificial intelligence systems use to create music becomes a reinvention of someone else’s original work claimed as one’s own. A recent example of this occurred in 2023 when a Bad Bunny song trended on TikTok. Everything about the song pointed toward Bad Bunny and no one seemed to think differently until people discovered that the song had been made with AI by user “flowgptmusic.

” Earlier that year, an apparent collaboration between artists Drake and The Weeknd was posted online but ended up being an AI-generated track by a user named “@ghostwriter.” All three were unhappy with their voices and sounds being utilized without their consent and demanded that the songs be taken down. The use of other people’s voices is the worst problem with AI.

An artist’s voice is their most valuable asset. When it is available to the public for free use, artists’ careers and privacy are jeopardized. However, there are positive things about AI in the music industry.

The Beatles were recently able to release a new song with an old demo from John Lennon by using AI. Institutions such as Ohio University are offering classes on AI production and storytelling, preparing for the future ahead. However, the detrimental effects on creativity and ownership are a pressing issue for the industry.

The CEO of the AI music software Suno AI claims that people do not enjoy making music anymore, and software like his saves people time in learning an instrument or developing a talent. But is that not what we praise music for? People who enjoy listening to music are interested in the talent and creative process behind it, or in the passion and the effort because that is what makes great music. Yet, if anybody can go on the internet and make a Bad Bunny or Drake song without even needing to have their voices, bands or talents, what are we praising them for? Paul McCartney recently spoke about how music used to be something he loved, and something that paid the bills.

Now, artists feel a loss of that love and financial security because creativity is no longer present with artificial intelligence. Everything on the internet becomes public use, so that anyone can use it. Shouldn’t the person who came up with a piece of art be the one profiting off of it? Artificial intelligence is here to stay.

More colleges and universities offer programs that study and train students to use AI, and developers are constantly creating new software to keep automating our lives. However, we cannot forget that artificial intelligence is dehumanizing. It takes away from the human things about life: feelings, creativity, imagination and more.

Every industry is set to suffer the consequences of artificial intelligence, but the creative ones are in the most danger. Artists will not be able to own any of their work that gets published if artificial intelligence is taking it away. Essential assets such as writing styles, voices and beats are lost to the public in this automatized world.

Even though technology can be helpful, governments need to intervene so that we as a society do not lose what makes us human. Agustina Kohen Mangas, FCRH ’25, is a new media and digital design and communication & culture major from Buenos Aires, Argentina..