Can you tell the difference between a Drake original and a track with AI-generated vocals?
And that’s the problem – most people can’t.
Social media is awash with solidly produced songs that seem to feature the voices of some of music’s biggest stars — but were created using artificial intelligence.
This week prompted the Deezer streaming service to announce that it is developing a suite of „cutting edge tools” to detect AI-generated content on its platform and „weed out illegal and fraudulent content”.
It follows a song featuring cloned vocals from Drake and The Weeknd that went viral in April, resulting in the track having to be will be removed From streaming sites.
With more and more songs popping up online, it seems unrelenting.
Many believe so much that what appear to be unreleased tracks leaked online – others include covers by artists who are no longer with us.
Here’s a fake Michael Jackson singing I Feel It Coming by the Weekend.
Others seem a little more out there – yet, incredibly authentic.
Here’s Kanye West taking on a country number in this AI-generated song.
Here’s Ariana Grande lending her voice to a song in a new language, Punjabi.
How does it work?
According to Universal Music Group, AI platforms can learn from voices and original music content provided by humans.
AI can now reproduce melodies and vocals in seconds, it claims.
Any music producer capable of imitating the texture and tone of the most recognizable voices in world music can transform their voice.
’Sort it before we’re done’
There have been mixed reactions among artists, with some saying it highlights the problem with „formulaic” pop songs, while others are ready to embrace the technology.
Trip hop collective Massive Attack tweeted in response to a fake Drake track and posed the question: „Should AI make music again?’ Or the debate 'Why is contemporary music so monotonous & formulaic that it’s so easy to copy?’
Jazz musician and producer Alpha Mist told Sky News that he doesn’t think it plays a part in his music because his songs require „human error”.
„I need a human’s experiences because that plays into the music,” he says, but he’s only considering using AI „to help my creative process” when it comes to mixing and mastering, for example.
„I don’t know what I think about AI, I’m not really for or against it — I think it’s inevitable,” he says. „It’s here — you can’t undo it, and you can’t ban it because it’s here, but I think [with] You have to control the things that cannot be banned.
“When tools are made, they can be in use or they can be exploited… sort it out before we’re all done.
AI is causing a stir in the art world as well
„I’m not afraid of AI, I’m afraid of humans, so it all depends on who’s the human doing it – using AI to elevate and advance people.”
Hip-hop artist Hit-Boy, who has worked with Jay-Z, Kanye West and Drake, accepted when he tweeted a clip of AI playing his own track featuring Kanye.
He wrote that creators are „really in the future” and that „it’s going to be very realistic” — but artists need to „find ways to make it useful in your work flow.”
Singer Grimes also features on AI tracks.
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„I will split 50% royalty on any hit song created by AI using my voice,” he tweeted. „Same contract as any artist I work with. Feel free to use my voice without penalty. I have no label and no legal obligations.”
He added that he liked the idea of being „connected” to the „machine”, adding: „I like the idea of open sourcing all art and killing copyright.”
Labels 'sweating a little’
Fans have shared mixed reactions to the new music coming out online, with some stunned at the prospect and others excited to hear Rihanna’s new song.
Music critic and YouTuber Anthony Fantano – known as „the internet’s hottest music nerd” – told his followers on TikTok what he thought of the AI Drake and the Weeknd song, calling it „good”.
„I don’t know who it’s absolutely not good for at this point, but I don’t think it’s very good,” he says.
„Oh yeah, a lot of people are talking about this turning the industry upside down, this AI deepfake vocal stuff – the labels are in trouble now” – of course it sweats them a bit – if it wasn’t, I don’t think they’d go so far as to remove this song from streaming.
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„But, like with streaming, once they figure out the recipe for this thing, it’s going to be a payday for them.
„There’s going to be a lot of new juice WRLD [the US rapper who died in 2019] You don’t even know the songs and where they come from.”
Which side of history will stakeholders be on?
Universal Music Group says the use of AI technology raises a deeper question about „human creative expression”.
„Despite the adoption of new technology”, the training of creative AI and the availability of transgressive content, it says people will have to choose „which side of history” they want to be on, the side of artists and fans, or „deep fakes”. , fraud and denial of due compensation to artists”.
Will this chatbot replace humans?
It says: „These cases demonstrate why platforms have a fundamental legal and ethical responsibility to prevent artists from using their services to harm them.”
Teaser chief executive Geronimo Folguera says it’s getting harder to distinguish the real from the AI, with more than 100,00 new tracks being uploaded to his platform daily.
He believes the new tagging system, where AI detects and identifies content, will reduce „fraudulent activity” and lead to „a remuneration model that differentiates different types of music creation”.
„AI can be used to create new incredible content and I believe there are massive benefits to using generative AI, but we need to make sure it’s done in a responsible way,” he says.
AI 'could destroy humans’
UK Music, which represents the music industry in Britain, has signed up to the Human Art Campaign, which sets out rules on the responsible use of AI.
Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, chief executive of the organisation, says: “The AI revolution will have a transformative impact on the music industry – our task is to meet the biggest challenges it presents in some areas, while harnessing the potential opportunities it presents in others.
„As we navigate these issues, it is vital that our approach is underpinned by clear and consistent policies, not just here in the UK but globally.”
He hopes the guidelines will „ensure that AI technologies are developed to support human culture and artistry without destroying it.”
While record labels and streaming services worry about how to adapt the technology, singer Grimes has found his own way to monetize an „experiment” that lets fans access his GrimesAI „voice print.” Provides a glimpse into the future parallel music industry.
Although he was „kind of stressed” that people could make Grimes-sounding songs „better” than him, he says it was „the most amazingly poetic way to die and reappear in another profession”.