Amorphis share their point of view about the use of A.I. in music

In a recent interview with Metal Covenant, guitarist Esa Holopainen and keyboardist Santeri Kallio of Finnish melancholic progressive metallers Amorphis provided their perspectives on a contemporary debate, as per Blabbermouth.

The discussion centered around the utilization of artificial intelligence (A.I.) music generators as tools for composing melodies, harmonies, and rhymes. These generators operate based on algorithms and machine learning (M.L.) models.

The interview examined the implications and artistic considerations of employing such technological methods in music creation.

Well, I don’t see any[thing] wrong with that. I get it that you have to be careful not to use it, because at the moment, A.I. uses the same themes for everybody, basically. But, for example, for music videos the budgets are going down because of diminishing record sales and streaming services, so the bands don’t really get that much of a budget. So in music videos, actually, the A.I. is pretty good. You can save money and you can save time. And the videos actually look phenomenal sometimes. Obviously, you have to be careful not to overuse it, but there are places you can use that. But for album covers and shit like that, oh no. I think that doesn’t make any sense, because it kind of lacks personality. – Santeri Kallio

I guess many people have, like, played with A.I. themselves, like, ‘Draw this, and this, and all these ideas,’ and then you get like a fantasy artwork. – Esa Holopainen

Especially a lot of fantasy bands aren’t using A.I., because it’s basically impossible to build a setup with all the fucking dragons and wolves and shit. But on a small scale, you can make better-looking videos and build some atmospheres like a snowstorm pretty easily. – Santeri Kallio

Nothing to do with music, but overall, the A.I., that’s a pretty scary idea where the whole thing is leading us into. It’ll probably be the world’s destructors. [Laughs] – Esa Holopainen

Terminators are coming, or Matrix. But we are old-schoolers. I haven’t even tried the A.I. music programs, because my biggest fun in life is I’m enthusiastic. I like to make it myself. I’m such an old guy. I’ve lived in the ’80s. You learn that it’s the most fun part to do. So why the hell would you get rid of that and start using A.I.? But I understand the younger people. They will see the world totally different in 20 years, because they’ve lived through those times. Personally, I have no interest in that, because what I enjoy the most in life is to take a guitar and build a song for yourself and jam with the guys and play the shows with the guys. That’s the most fun part. Why destroy the most fun part in the world, even though it’s possible? – Santeri Kallio