WOLFGANG VAN HALEN On Use Of AI In Music: 'When It Comes To Creative Merits, I Don't Think AI Can Compete'

In a new interview with Primordial Radio, former VAN HALEN bassist and current MAMMOTH WVH frontman Wolfgang Van Halen was asked if he thinks there is any "place" for artificial intelligence (AI) in music, particularly when it comes to the creative process. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think when aiding in creation, sort of like that 'intelligent' drummer thing [from Logic], [it] can be helpful. But overall, when it comes to creative merits and creative processes, I really just don't think AI can compete. The only way it competes is by plagiarizing a combination of everything else that we've already done. So without us, it couldn't be. So when it comes to creating original sort of things, no chance."

This past April, Universal Music had a song called "Heart On My Sleeve", which used deep-faked vocals from their artists Drake and The Weeknd, removed from the streaming services, claiming in a statement that "the training of generative AI using our artists' music" was "a violation of copyright law".

In May, AVENGED SEVENFOLD's M. Shadows said that he "would love to" have his voice cloned using artificial intelligence in order to create new songs. The singer, whose real name is Matt Sanders, was also enthused about the possibilities, saying that "AI can be incredibly useful" for songwriters. M. Shadows went on to say that AI gives fans the opportunity to use the work of their favorite acts as a machine learning library to create their own songs.

Pop singer Grimes, whose real name is Claire Boucher, recently said she would "split 50% royalties on any successful AI-generated song that uses my voice". "Same deal as I would with any artist I collab[orate] with. Feel free to use my voice without penalty," she tweeted.

During a recent appearance on the "Beer Rum & Rock N Roll" podcast with host Randy Legault, drummer Gil Moore of legendary Canadian rockers TRIUMPH weighed in on a debate about people using AI to create fake tracks and artist voices. He said: "I love technology. That's why I'm involved with a software company now, but it's music based. And so everybody in the music space is kind of up in arms about AI, and I get why. And here's my take on it.

"First of all, AI is inevitable," he continued. "Even though Woz [Apple co-founder and US Festival organizer Steve Wozniak] is part of the group that said we should hold back development for six months, and I applaud him; I wish that was possible. Maybe I'm more cynical than he is, but I don't think you can hold it back, because the bad actors will not participate in any kind of holdback. So all you'd be doing is holding back the people that are responsible versus the ones that are irresponsible.

"Number two, I think AI could be a creative tool for musicians to harness in the same way that mathematicians use calculators, but when you get into creating fake tracks and when you get into criminal activity, it's a set of burglar keys for a smart producer, or even not a smart producer but a smart crook who understands a little tiny bit about music, to try to scam streaming royalties, which is what's going on with fake tracks. And not just using AI; there's other ways to do it. People will cheat, unfortunately. So I think it's terrible."

Moore added: "Last week, I know I was talking with my buddy Noel, and he was talking about the fact that there was, I guess, a fake Drake track out there, or more than one, and a fake track from The Weeknd. It's horrible. Why would they shrug it off and go, 'oh, I don't care'? It's offensive. You wouldn't wanna see that happen with art in our world. Imagine if you had AI doing all the paintings and there were no more great artists in any area.

"I'm just saying I think there's two sides to the argument," Gil explained. "We're not gonna be able to hold back technology, so we might as well go, 'Okay, whether we like it or not, it's here to stay.' What we really can hope is that companies that are ethnical… So, ChatGPT, which is the big gun right now, is developed by Microsoft. I believe Microsoft to be an ethical company. I believe that they will do their best to try and see that the uses are for good. We've gotta try to keep it out of the hands of the bad actors and being used for purposes for which it's not intended."