What If...

Speaking as someone who has previously criticised the use of AI in music I just had my mind changed slightly after watching this short video. It reminded me of situations in the past where a favorite singer or musician had passed away or for one reason or another was unable to ever sing or perform again. How sad that you would never hear them perform new material again. But what if you could?
I'd give anything to hear new songs from some of my old favorites... John Prine, Linda Ronstadt, Merle Haggard and of course the great Randy Travis. This video just opened my mind to the possibility that in the very near future, brand new songs from old favorites will become a common enjoyment.
When it comes to songwriters and composers though, I don't think AI could ever replicate their unique, individual originality, for example, someone like John Prine or Gordon Lightfoot.

I'd be interested to know what you think, and what deceased artists you'd love to hear new songs from?

[youtube]iQsvAB2RsvM?si=oYy-JGyJjWQFWlKv[/youtube]

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I think part of what makes a legend a legend is the fact that the output is limited. I can understand the desire to hear something new from a legend, but if we're being honest, the new stuff is not really made by them and the more "new" songs appear, the less the old ones might "stick out", so it might decrease the value of what exists today (especially for new generations discovering the songs).

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I understand, bluvation, that for some people this possibility is desirable. But what about the value we place on things in life, and on life itself, if we end up making ourselves believe that ephemerality and finitude no longer exist. That we can prolong indefinitely what has gone, knowing deep within us that it is not real?

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Some great points made guys, thanks for joining the conversation:W

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While I understand both sides, I think I'm with shiihs and with Lazyprune here.
In January '23 I lost my brother Willi who was 14 months younger than me, and who used to play the bass (also double-) long before I did. Of all my 3 siblings, he was the one I used to be closest to, and I miss our conversations, his emails, everything. Often we thought alike.
I only have 1 recording of him playing his fretless soon after he got it, so I uploaded that here, and from his flat the only things I took were his hard drives and his diploma work - he wrote about the movie "Four weddings and a funeral" from the viewpoint of a psychologist, and I haven't read it yet.
Yes I would love if we could still communicate. But I wouldn't want to "chat" to a bot impersonating him. There are only a few things he left on the interweb (see the Wayback machine on https://web.archive.org/web/20250000000000*/willi.lonien.de in case you're interested, but he only wrote until 2013 I think, and most of it is in German).
The same with other relatives like parents, grandparents, and so on, even with a friend from middle school who could play every Beatles tune on the piano, and who left much too early. Nothing and no one can ever replace them.
Another example: one of the two guitar players from our band when I was way younger is in a persistent vegetative state since years - a truck did that to him while he was riding a bicycle. He was a brilliant musician, but can't also be replaced, never ever. He also wrote for a German musicians' magazine, and they have a few lines about him: https://www.gitarrebass.de/autoren/ebo-wagner/
My 2 cents on this...

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I get where people are coming from, and I respect everyone's views. Like I said at the beginning, that video slightly changed my thinking. Wolfgang made some great points against using AI in this way—the examples he gave are totally fair and well taken. I was really looking at this from a singer’s perspective.
For someone like me who loves to sing, (obviously nowhere close to the level of Linda Ronstadt or Randy Travis) losing that ability would be devastating. I thought about these two amazing artists who had their voices taken from them, not by choice. It was heartbreaking, not just for them but for everyone who’s been touched by their music. But then seeing Randy’s face at the end of that video when he heard his voice brought back through AI was really inspiring. It was clearly done with his permission, and I got to thinking that it gave him a way to still be part of something he’s spent his whole life doing. I’d never support anyone trying to replicate someone else's voice without permission from them first. Looking back at my original post, I now realize someone who’s passed away can’t give that permission so wouldn't be something I'd agree with.

Thanks to everyone for sharing your thoughts. :W

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I have a strong feeling against AI in arts, it's a gut feeling, I just don't like it. Think about it, possibly in 50 years the AI will be so good, the programming so perfect that they will have built in "mistakes" and emotions, it will be like the best singer ever, sounding so "alive" and real. The machines will make art better than us. Where does that leave us?? MAchines will do most of the labour, machines will do all the programming, machines will do the arts, where does it leave us? Sitting at home playing video games? I don't know, I don't have the answers, but I don't like it.

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There will remain a group of indomitables who start again to create rhythms with stones and sticks, to blow in bamboo, to vibrate hemp ropes, to escape the civilization shaped by artificial intelligence. We will be among those!!! :@

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