The past year has changed the way I make music. Not because I stopped composing \u2014 but because the way ideas come to life has changed, with a new instrument: AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
AI is now capable of generating music, text and images autonomously. That is where much of the current friction comes from. When people hear the word \u201cAI\u201d, they often assume that the work itself was entirely created by AI \u2014 at the press of a button. In that view, AI becomes the composer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, using algorithms to create music is not new. A friend of mine was already composing with computers more than thirty years ago. The difference is not that machines can generate music \u2014 they could already do that decades ago. The difference is that they now respond. That brings me back to authorship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In my case, the assumption that the computer \u2014 or AI \u2014 is the composer, is incorrect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m the composer \u2014 though I do find the idea of AI as an autonomous composer fascinating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The compositions are mine. The musical ideas, structure and intention all come from me. AI is part of how those ideas are brought to life \u2014 even when AI helps shape the starting point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, AI is not just a passive tool. In my process, it can function as a kind of co-composer or co-arranger. It suggests directions, textures, harmonic colours \u2014 sometimes things I would not have considered myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That interaction can lead to something interesting: an arrangement detail can influence the composition itself. A rhythmic shift, a harmonic choice, a certain sound \u2014 they can reshape the piece. This kind of cross-pollination has always existed between composers, performers and arrangers. The difference is that it now happens instantly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A recording captures a performance.\u2028AI interprets an intention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the crucial point remains: AI can suggest, but it does not decide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The decisions \u2014 what stays, what changes, what defines the piece \u2014 are always mine. That is where authorship lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is also why labels like \u201cAI-generated\u201d can be misleading. They suggest that the work originates from the technology, while in reality the distinction between creation and execution is far more nuanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For me, AI is not the composer.
It is the instrument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And strangely enough…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the end…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The AI-assisted outcome of my songs often touches me right away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is what matters most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my hope is simple: that someone hears it and wants to sing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Contact<\/p>\n\n\n\n