On the second episode of Rosie Bennet's new podcast, , legendary guitarist Brian May (Queen) says he believes this year could be the last when we can distinctly identify a song as composed by a human.
He's right. AI-assisted content creation is now a fact of life, and it will soon become as impossible to avoid AI assistance as it is to go "off the grid."
Unsurprisingly – because Brian May is, well, Brian May – he also said, “In a way, we're all plagiarists; none of us creates in a vacuum. Every time now when I'm creating something, I think, Where's this coming from? Is it something that I heard? Is it something I felt spontaneously?”
His brutally honest statements highlight the crux of the AI training debate: how do human plagiarists – "Do a Victor Wooten slap thing in the turnaround. You know, make it 'Wootenesque.'" – and AI "plagiarist machines" (as many generative AI and music-focused autonomous agents have been called) differ?
Humans learn the same way AI learns; we listen or read and do our best to copy. Humans are the best mimics on earth, and the result of our mastery of mimicry is that most of what people produce as original content in our modern world is "inspired by" preexisting work. It's interesting to hear people complain about AI doing a similar thing.
There are very big feelings on both sides of this argument; I just liked listening to Brian May talk about it in a reasoned way. BTW, I didn't know Rosie Bennet's work until I saw this episode. She's awesome.
As always your thoughts and comments are both welcome and encouraged. Just reply to this email. -s
ABOUT SHELLY PALMER
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named he covers tech and business for , is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular . He's a , and the creator of the popular, free online course, . Follow or visit .
