When debating a topic as controversial as AI, there is one argument that is almost always brought up as a negative consequence: the killing of creativity. This is now also present in the entertainment and creative industry, where AI can be used not only as an enhancer of certain processes, but also be the literal content creator. AI-generated songs have been circulating for years and have certainly added to the controversy. Questions are raised about the ethics, the lack of creativity and the lack of transparency. On first glance, there do not seem to be a lot of positive opinions circulating about the impacts of AI on music. The general consensus seems to be that music will become more homogenous and generic, tracks are more likely to be stolen and reused without giving credit to original artists, and it will be harder to tell apart original work versus AI-generated content.
However, a lot of these arguments are not new criticisms of the current state of music trends. Even without considering AI in this scenario, today’s producing landscape is full of lawsuits and arguments over similar sounding music, ghost writers who prevent audiences from always knowing who is producing what music, and listeners criticising the homogeneity among songs within similar genres sounding more or less the same (especially amongst older audiences). So this poses the question: Is AI creating more problems or simply adding on to existing criticisms of today’s music output? As AI continues to advance, it will presumably get better at generating newer and more original music that fits to current trends, as well as being able to cite where it got what music components from. From this perspective, a more transparent and skilled version of AI-technology will reach the exact point that the music industry is currently at. Moving forward it would be interesting to observe if AI is accelerating the deterioration of creativity, or maybe simply catching up to current trends in music production.
References:
Semancik, A. (2025, February 4). How AI is transforming the creative economy and music industry. OHIO Today. https://www.ohio.edu/news/2024/04/how-ai-transforming-creative-economy-music-industry
OpenAI. (2025, October 3). AI-generated cover image of human–AI music creation [AI-generated image]. ChatGPT. https://chat.openai.com/
Great analysis. Connecting the dots between AI’s effect on music and the industry’s history of legal stirs and public debates is particularly enlightening. After all, it may be less about AI killing creativity and more of how it exposes preexisting systemic foul practices of the music business. Utilizing AI may enhance several processes as it improves the boundaries of what an original piece is considered.