The artificiality of artificial intelligence

Some days I grab pen and paper and sit down at the keyboard or guitar hoping to write a song, with tea, coffee, or a glass of wine by my side, depending on the time.

In these situations and times when everything is supposedly suitable for songwriting, nothing ever comes out. Whenever I'm in a difficult situation, in an awkward place, and often unhappy, I want to express it in song. Or rather, not the situation itself, but what it makes me feel, what it reflects.

When I look at my songs, I wonder what they're about: I'm actually describing the injustices we've suffered. It could be the pain of a breakup, a loss, a platonic love, or the current state of our country. It's as if my songs stem from the idea that I don't deserve these things. I don't know about the others...

I read somewhere that thirty percent of the songs uploaded to a digital music platform today are generated by artificial intelligence. I'm not against the advancements of technology and the process of digitalization. Many works of art today can be created with the help of AI. A painting, a poem, a song...

They may have everything perfect: perspective, rhyme, melody. But there's one thing that will always be missing: emotion.

The working principle of artificial intelligence is based on machines acquiring data processing, learning, decision-making, and problem-solving abilities that mimic human intelligence. But intelligence and emotion are two very different things. In my opinion, the final element of a great song is intelligence. The first is emotion.

***

I haven't been able to write songs for a long time. And the songs I do write don't really interest anyone except a few musicians and family members. Besides, everyone wants songs they know and can sing along to these days. If they can't find what they're looking for in the first few seconds of a new song, they'll quickly move on to another.

Being a Pink Floyd fan, I've always envied the lives of British musicians. Music was always a part of their lives, whether in their youth, middle age, or old age. There were times when they struggled mightily, but they weren't bothered by rent, food bills, or their children's tuition fees. Besides a great song or a fantastic performance, none of that mattered. In fact, I think one of the keys to being a good musician is a bit selfish.

It seems like a musician should have a somewhat high ego. I'm quite lacking in that department. I just do what I love, and that's how I make a living. Making someone's life difficult with my endless demands and whims wouldn't make my music better?

***

That's why those who put us in an unreachable place with our songs cannot hide their astonishment after meeting us.

They say a lot of nice things about how we are so humble.

We have many musician friends like us. Those who have stripped away their egos and want to exist solely through the music they make. When I look at it, many of them write their own lyrics and music. Perhaps this is the self-confidence that comes from writing songs.

But not in a brash way. It's a self-confidence that comes from believing in what you're doing. It's the intuition of knowing a song is good even if no one's listening. I do a lot of work. Before, beauty was all that mattered. Now, accuracy...

Stay healthy.