Art and creativity have always had a complicated relationship with technology particularly in emerging markets across the world where adopting new things lack proper funding. Tech has never waited for creative industries to catch up, how music is made, recorded, distributed and consumed has constantly changed. The music industry has moved through cassettes to CDs, analogue recording to digital recording as well as from physical distribution to mp3s to piracy and streaming. Each change disrupted the system in its own way.
The most profound change now is rooted in Artificial intelligence, what makes it different is that the disruption is no longer limited to how we consume the art, but AI is increasingly sitting inside the creative process. AI isn’t basically a replacement for artists, it is mostly a collaborative tool, an instrument that can be used during creativity. We have already seen this happen locally. Zimbabwean creatives have already experimented with AI to come up with music, developing sounds and exploring ideas that previously required a lot of resources.
Some AI collaborated pieces have even found their ways onto local radio playlists with listeners sometimes surprised to discover that what they were humming to be an AI collaborated piece of work. Of note is Ndakainamatira nyaya by Grace Wave and Kure Kure by Magic Wacho. The tracks have demonstrated how an AI assisted piece can find an audience and achieve significant traction.
One very popular application in creating music is Suno AI. The app is readily available on play store and is very easy to use. Once you install it you are prompted to create a free account so that you start creating stuff. You choose the type of voice you want it to use, type of melody and you can tweak on bass and other sounds that may interest you. You simply upload the lyrics, and, in a moment, you have a song which you can import to your memory if you are a premium user.
An important aspect to take note of is that the tech is already here and people are listening, instead of the question being whether AI should be used in creative arts or not, perhaps we should be asking how we could use AI without losing human creativity, culture and identity that makes our music unique. Technology has never been the enemy of creativity.
Technology will force an industry to adopt and become part of the ecosystem. AI will follow the same path, artists who understand it rather than simply resist it may ultimately have an advantage. The real challenge being whether AI is adopted early, creatively and intelligently enough to shape what comes next, and this is not only for the arts sector but other sectors as well like the farming sector and medical sector to mention a few.
The post AI Collaboration In Music appeared first on Techzim.
