AI (Artificial Intelligence) is the talk of the internet lately. Sentiment, understandably, is pretty divided. Some people think the rise of AI means we’re two keyboard clicks away from machines becoming self-aware as fuck like Skynet and killing us all.
Other folks see it as a great leap forward for humankind, with the potential to help advance crucial scientific research & redefine the speed of industries around the globe.
Where do we stand? A bit too early to tell, but we’re a bit more “John Connor” on it than we are, say, “Elon Musk.” That said, there have been some pretty cool uses of the technology recently in our little musical sphere.
An AI technology called Midjourney AI bot has been used to create some stunning visual reinterpretations of classic metal songs. The AI will pull together images that reflect what is being said (or even reflect a certain mood or sound being presented) from the song.
For example, during the line in “Enter Sandman” where James Hetfield says, “Say your prayers/ little ones/ don’t forget my son,” the AI pulled together a painting of two children looking off into the distance of a cemetery.
You can also provide the AI with specific directions (for example, you can tell it to look up visuals presented in a certain painting style). Here’s an example of Slayer’s classic ‘South of Heaven’ below:
But beyond visualizing lyrics as art, the ability for AI to create actual music for existing artists is frankly pretty insane right now. Look no further than exhibit A below, which features a few “new” Nirvana songs written entirely by AI. While the first song is a little choppy, the second has the trademark dirty pop hooks that Cobain was so revered for:
Listen to ‘New’ Nirvana Songs Created Entirely by AI (Artificial Intelligence):
And then here’s another creepily impressive example of AI creating an alternate version of Nirvana’s ‘Francis Farmer.’ Apparently, the AI was fed 10 seconds of the original track, along with the band name, genre, and lyrics. It took about 10 hours to complete. Our two cents? An interestingly beautiful version, but definitely lacks the human angst of Cobain in delivery and sound.
What do you think? Kind of creepy, yet also kind of impressive, right?