Many of us have seen a lot of changes in the past year which relate to AI, or Artifical Intelligence. It's an industry which is bringing seismic changes to a large number of other industries and processes. I've been paying a lot of attention to the potential of this technology. On one side, I'm using AI to speed up my workflow in my reforestation and other work, using it to help me with everything from educating me with broad overviews of topics that I'm unfamiliar with, to coding tips, to helping me with website updating, to analyzing spreadsheet more quickly. It's probably doubled my work capacity as a whole over the past three months, because the AI has been able to quickly accomplish a lot of tasks that I would have needed hours to do on my own, which allows me to move onto my next task more quickly. AI has been a huge help in letting me "catch up" on a lot of my very extensive to-do lists over the past three months. I've even tackled a few projects that I had original put on my to-do lists as long as 8-10 years ago.
But what about DJ'ing and music production? Well, AI can produce "original" music? Perhaps my music production skills will become less valuable in the future? Well, I'm not worried about that. I haven't used AI to produce music because the enjoyment of music production is the journey of creation, not the end result. However, I have used AI's to generate background imagery for several music videos that I've posted on YouTube over the past year. And the quality of those videos is going to become exponentially better over the next twelve months, thanks to Sora, a technology from OpenAI.
Here's an article that I just watched from CNN. It's brings things to a new level, using an AI Avatar for DJ'ing (click on the image or the URL below the image to go to the article page, and watch the video):
cnn.com/videos/business/2024/03/14/dex-sum-vivas-digital-human-spc.cnn
I think this kind of technology is great. Like any tool, it can be used poorly in a way that does not necessarily benefit people, but when it is used properly, it can bring a lot of benefits. But there will be detractors. What are some of the ethnical considerations for this sort of use??
Intellectual Property Rights: Restricting the AI to operate within the bounds of copyright law, and to respects creators' rights, will be crucial to avoid legal issues and maintain fairness in the music industry.
Authenticity and Transparency: The use of AI in performances raises questions about authenticity. When an AI avatar performs, the line between human creativity and machine-generated content blurs. It's essential to maintain transparency about the use of AI, so the audience knows whether they are experiencing a human DJ's artistry or an AI's output. This transparency helps in setting the right expectations and maintains the integrity of the performance. Right now, there's absolutely no question when watching a performance, because the technology is quite young. But what will things look like in three years? The technology will probably have improved so much that viewers won't be able to tell the difference between an avatar and a real human.
Cultural Appropriation: An AI-powered DJ might inadvertently engage in cultural appropriation by mixing elements from different music genres or cultural backgrounds without understanding their significance or context. And of course, the appearance of the avatar will be important. Would I want to play a show for an indigenous community while appearing as an indigenous avatar? Absolutely not. It's vital to ensure that the the AI avatar is created and displayed in a way that respects cultural heritage and avoids misrepresentation or trivialization of cultural elements.
Job Displacement: The rise of AI in the entertainment industry could lead to job displacement for human DJs and musicians. While AI can enhance performances, it shouldn't replace human artists entirely. In the article that I linked, there's a real DJ (or even a full team) in the background, controlling the show. Balancing the use of AI to support rather than substitute human performers will mitigate worries from performers who are concerned about losing their jobs. And many DJ's already struggle to find gigs.
Bias and Fairness: AI systems can inherit biases from their training data, leading to unbalanced music selections that might favour certain genres, artists, or cultures. Ensuring that AI DJ'ing avatars are trained on diverse and inclusive data sets is necessary to prevent biased outcomes and promote a fair representation of different music forms. This is why it helps to have a human behind the avatar. An experience human DJ can read a dance floor and respond to the crowd better than an avatar can.
Balanced against these ethical considerations are the benefits. With AI DJ'ing avatars, music and performances can become more accessible to a wider audience. People from different parts of the world can experience performances virtually, without the need for physical presence. This inclusivity will allow more people to enjoy performances regardless of their location or physical abilities. I've always had a huge online presence with a global audience, and this sort of capability could help reinforce that global reach without contributing to a large carbon footprint that would go along with flying all over the world to play at shows in person. True, it's not as fun, but it's more efficient.
Obviously, the use of an avatar to play a set is very different than the real thing, and I certainly don't think it will be an effective for a real DJ in a lot of situations. But in some cases, this new technology could prove to be pretty useful.
It's a technology worth watching, because it's not going to disappear ...
