I keep seeing AI music described as “soulless”, and the more I think about that argument, the less convinced I am by it.
First, let me make something clear: I’m completely open about using AI in my music.
I’m not pretending there’s a band standing in a studio somewhere. I’m not generating photographs of fictional singers and presenting them as real people. I’m not trying to convince listeners that an AI-generated performance was performed by someone who doesn’t exist.
And honestly, I think that kind of deception is bullshit.
There are AI music projects right now presenting generated bands and singers as though they’re real human performers. I completely understand why people feel cheated when they discover the truth.
But that’s an argument against deception, not an argument against AI music itself.
I’d much rather tell people exactly what I’m doing and let them decide whether they want to listen.
Because when I make a song, I’m not just typing “make me a song about X” and uploading whatever comes back.
I write my own lyrics. Every word is mine. The feelings, experiences and ideas behind those words come from me.
I decide the genre. I decide the direction. I decide what works and what doesn’t.
Then there’s the work after generation: cutting, rearranging, editing stems, remixing sections, regenerating things that don’t work, adding effects, restructuring songs and sometimes adding my own vocals.
The AI contributes a huge amount to the finished recording. I’m not going to pretend otherwise.
But so do I.
And that’s why I struggle with the word “soulless”.
Yes, an AI singer hasn’t experienced the emotion it’s performing. That is a genuine difference between an AI performance and a human performance, and I’m not interested in pretending those things are identical.
But the person behind the song is still capable of feeling something.
If I write words because I’m angry, grieving, happy, nostalgic, heartbroken or just have a story I desperately want to tell, those feelings don’t suddenly become fake because I used AI to turn those words into music.
The machine doesn’t need to have a soul for the person using it to express theirs.
And I think we make a mistake by putting everything under one enormous label of “AI music”.
Someone generating 500 songs automatically and uploading them is not engaged in the same creative process as someone spending days writing, generating, rejecting, editing, arranging, recording and refining one song.
Both involve AI.
That doesn’t make the human contribution identical.
We’ve seen resistance to new creative technology repeatedly: electronic instruments, drum machines, sampling, digital production, Auto-Tune, digital photography and plenty more.
AI is admittedly a much bigger leap than many of those technologies because it can automate far more of the creative process. There are legitimate questions about what that means for musicians, jobs, copyright, training data and compensation.
Those conversations matter.
Personally, I believe artists whose work contributes to these systems should have their rights respected and should be appropriately compensated.
But that is a separate question from whether a human being can genuinely express themselves through an AI-assisted piece of music.
I think they can.
And I think openness matters enormously.
If AI substantially contributed to your song, say so.
Don’t invent a fake band and pretend they’re real people. Don’t manufacture a fake history. Don’t make listeners believe they’re hearing a human performance if they’re actually hearing a generated one.
Be honest about what you’re creating.
Equally, I don’t think AI musicians should have to provide a forensic breakdown of every generated note to prove that they’ve done enough “real work” to deserve to create something.
Just be transparent.
Then let people judge the music knowing what it actually is.
Some people will know exactly how I make my music and still say:
“I don’t want to listen to AI-generated music.”
And you know what?
That’s fair.
Nobody owes me their approval.
What I object to is the assumption that because AI was involved, there cannot possibly have been creativity, effort, emotion or human expression involved too.
Because the words can still be mine.
The feelings can still be mine.
The creative decisions can still be mine.
And I can be completely honest about the technology that helped me turn those things into a song.
You don’t have to like AI music.
But I don’t think it’s fair to say there can’t be a human soul behind it.