Slash Shares Thoughts on the “Misleading” and “Confusing” Use of AI in Music: “I See It Happening Already”

Slash has shared his opinion of AI in music, claiming it’s something that “does not really thrill me.” The guitar legend recently spoke with Battleground Podcast, mentioning his feelings toward the rampant expansion of AI in music.

“I’m not super excited about this new development,” he began, “only because I just know that people, for the most part, are gonna use it so much that it’s gonna be confusing and misleading.” He added, “There’s just gonna be too much of the same kind of look or sound for different things. I see it happening already.”

Slash also shared his personal approach to making music, admitting, “I’m the guy that likes to go into a studio and record a band live and do it analog. So the idea of AI, I can’t think of any application where it makes any sense to me for what it is that I do.”

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Slash Shares Thoughts on AI in Music, Says There’s Not “Any Application Where it Makes Any Sense” for Him

Slash went on to say that while he may be excited for the future of music, AI just isn’t cutting it at the moment. “I’m interested to see who comes up with something really great and unique and useful for me,” he said. “But having AI reproduce anything or actually produce anything original in terms of music does not really thrill me.”

AI in music has been a talking point for a while, with artists signing petitions and letters warning against the influx of AI, it’s potentially “predatory” nature, and calling for more protections for artists. One such letter, put together by Artists Rights Alliance, was signed by Billie Eilish, Robert Smith, Stevie Wonder, and Nicki Minaj, among others. Additionally, in March, Tennessee enacted the Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security (ELVIS) Act in an attempt to curtail the rise of AI and set precedent for artist protections.

As for the open letter from the Artists Rights Alliance, which was signed by more than 200 artists, they called for, in part, “all AI developers, technology companies, platforms and digital music services to pledge that they will not develop or deploy AI music-generation technology, content or tools that undermine of replace the human artistry of songwriters and artists or deny us fair compensation for our work.”

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