If something has characterized Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, the legendary musician popularly known as Sting, from the beginning of his career, in the late 1970s, to the present, it is that he has never kept quiet about anything when it comes to to express an opinion in an interview. For this reason, when he was asked what he thought about the use of artificial intelligence in musical composition in a television exclusive granted to the BBC, who always prefers to define himself as a singer-songwriter, he exploded, denoting that it was a subject that bothered him a lot: “Musicians they will face a battle to defend their work against songs that are composed by artificial intelligence”, he declared, to later clarify: “The blocks to build music belong to us, to human beings”.
In an article from the editorial division of the same BBC, two recent cases of the use of artificial intelligence in the creation of music are cited that surely angered the creator of songs like All this time and Fields of gold. A TikTok user claimed to have generated the voices of The Weeknd and Drake with the help of artificial intelligence to create a version of Heart on my sleeve by Larry Feet that quickly went viral, reaching two million views and can be found at YouTube under the striking pseudonym of Ghostwriter (ghost composer). The result was so efficient that, if the anonymous author had not made it clear that it was a creation of artificial intelligence, only the singers themselves would have realized that they were imitated. The song, which was initially also available on platforms, was withdrawn by Universal Music Group, the same company that distributes Sting's music, but they have not been able to prevent it from continuing to be heard on the internet.
In January, Nick Cave denounced that many songs had been created by ChatGPT imitating his peculiar style. The Australian singer went so far as to say that one of them was "a grotesque imitation of what it is to be human."
However, it is not always the users who use it to try new things. In February, DJ David Guetta used the technology to add Eminem's vocals to one of his tracks. And Neil Tennant, the leading voice of the Pet Shop Boys, explained to Radio Times that the group managed to finish a song that was stopped in time by a creative block. “In 2003 we wrote a chorus for a song and we couldn't finish it because I couldn't think of the lyrics. But when I gave what I had to artificial intelligence, it only took the push of a button to bring up what was missing. We may rewrite it, but artificial intelligence certainly helped us as a tool,” he noted.
When Tennant's explanation was mentioned to Sting, the former leader of The Police group remained skeptical: “The tools are always useful, but we are the ones who have to use them. What we cannot do is allow the machines to take control. We must be very careful,” he stated.
Sting (71) later said that what happened to him with music created with artificial intelligence is similar to what a CGI movie generates: “It's something that has never impressed me. When I see a computer-generated image, I immediately get bored. I think I'll feel the same way when I hear a song created with AI," said the man who has won 17 Grammys, a Golden Globe and an Emmy, as well as having been nominated for an Oscar for best original song four times.
Sting admitted that artificial intelligence could work for electronic music, although he was blunt: "To express emotion through songs, I don't think I'm going to be moved by what that technology produces."
Two months ago, Sting collected the prestigious Ivor Novello Award in London, which has been awarded since 1956 to the best composers, and which has previously been received by Elton John, Paul McCartney, Adele, Annie Lennox, John Lennon and Amy Winehouse, among others.
In his speech, the author of songs like Every breath you take, Roxanne or Englishman in New York assured: “Of all the awards in the world of music, the Ivors are the most prestigious for me. Songwriting is a craft that requires talent, and The Ivors Academy represents the trade. That is why I am delighted and I feel very honored that they have invited me to be a part, to join this extraordinary group of fellow composers, and those who came before us”.
