Gary Numan has revealed that his new album will be “devoted entirely” to the issue of AI in music. He also shared some of his thoughts surrounding the divisive topic while speaking Blitzed magazine, featured in the upcoming print issue. Along with the album reveal, Numan admitted that he’s “fascinated and horrified in equal measure” by the rise of AI in the arts, per a report from Music Radar.
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When asked if the music world should be afraid of the meteoric rise of AI, Numan replied, “I’d say sad more than scared.” He then spoke about his forthcoming album, stating, “The new album I’m working on now is devoted entirely to Al and how it might impact humanity. I’m fascinated and horrified in equal measure.”
AI in music is an interesting subject for an entire album, and here’s hoping Gary Numan can approach it from a different perspective than what we’ve already seen. Overall, Numan shared that he believes “everything is about to change” in the music industry because of the growing technology.
“As for its impact on music I fully expect Al to write great songs, it will paint extraordinary paintings, write amazing books, stunning poetry,” he said. “There will be Al pop stars and actors who will become as popular, if not more so, than any human. We will go to shows where the stars are Al but appear on stage just the same. Everything is about to change.”
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Gary Numan Shares Thoughts About AI in Music As Well as New Album Details
There’s no denying the impact that AI has already had on the music industry, with shows like ABBA’s Voyage and The Beatles’ last song “Now and Then.” However, the main argument artists, musicians, and writers have against the technology concerns the ethical implications of using copyrighted, original work to teach AI how to create. There are fears that AI will take over the arts completely and that the world will be inundated with AI-created work instead of human-made art.
Gary Numan, however, believes that human creativity can survive, as he stated in his Blitzed interview. “I think for quite some time the world will be amazed and entertained by all the wonders Al will create in the arts,” he said. “But, ultimately, if we survive long enough, I hope and suspect that people will slowly return to human-created art.”
He continued, “They will once again be looking for the human element, the human experience that created that art. They will look for something real that resonates with their own lives, not a learned Al version of it.” Numan then added, “That may just be childishly hopeful of course. We will see.”
Featured Image by Lorne Thomson/Redferns
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