Nick Cave hits out at ‘demonic potential’ of AI song generators
"Song generator platforms are, in my view, indicators of this nascent technology’s demonic potential to hollow out human endeavour and sever our connection to the divine."
By Nick Reilly
Nick Cave has hit out at AI once more, claiming that song generators are “indicators of this nascent technology’s demonic potential”.
The Bad Seeds icon has been a leading voice against the technology’s growth, previously describing it as “unbelievably disturbing” and warning of the “humiliating effect” it could have on creative work. He also hit out at ChatGPT, saying the technology should “fuck off and leave songwriting alone”.
In a new post on his The Red Hand Files website, Cave was asked by one fan where he stood on AI. He replied: “Artificial Intelligence, Catherine, may save the world, annihilate it, or do something in between. I don’t know. But song generator platforms are, in my view, indicators of this nascent technology’s demonic potential to hollow out human endeavour and sever our connection to the divine.
“They mock creation itself by rendering humanity unnecessary, taking the fruits of human striving and reducing them to mere products. It is, perhaps, our final, most soul-destroying humiliation.”
He was then asked whether art can be separated by the artist by another fan and replied: “Nuno, we cannot separate the art from the artists, for they are as inseparable as the waves from the sea they rise from. That may be an uncomfortable truth for some but, for me, the matter was settled. Until now.
“With the advent of song generation platforms, the thorny issue has been upended. At last, the artist can be separated from the art. Not just that, the artist – that flawed, messy, broken, woeful, joyful problem – can be removed from the equation altogether, like so much dross.”
Aiming his ire at the AI song generator Suno, he added: “Suno, the Great Cancellator, which has never loved or laughed or grieved, never experienced joy or loss or heartbreak, never felt boredom or its adjacent epiphany, produces an imitation of the soul – a song – in fifteen seconds flat. This is an affront to any songwriter who has lived and struggled in this world and earned the right to create a song.”
He concluded: “For those eager to rid the world of problematic artists – for these censorious forces remain persistent – it is surely cause for celebration, as these platforms promise to rid the world of artists altogether.”
Though a critic, it should also be noted that Cave used AI last year for a video of ‘Tupelo’ to mark the anniversary of the seminal Bad Seeds track, created by filmmaker Andrew Dominik. The technology was used to illustrate the song’s central story of Elvis Presley’s birth in Tupelo, Misssisippi.
Cave said the AI-animated photographs of Presley “had an uncanny quality, as if he had been raised from the dead, and the crucifixion-resurrection images at the end were both shocking and deeply affecting.” He then said: ““As I watched Andrew’s surreal little film, I felt my view of AI as an artistic device soften. To some extent, my mind was changed.”
Cave also performed a huge homecoming show in Brighton over the summer.