Few matters in trendy tradition ignite as a lot debate as synthetic intelligence, and now, even rock music is correct on the heart of it.
Different rockers Nothing More sparked dialog — and backlash — with the discharge of their new music video for “Existential Dread”, a monitor from their newest album Carnal. The band’s choice to lean closely into AI imagery wasn’t a quiet experiment. It was an announcement, one meant to impress considered society’s fixation on know-how — whereas sarcastically fueling the very discourse it critiques.
Forward of the official video premiere on August 18, 2025, the band launched a brief teaser clip. Its unmistakable AI-rendered aesthetic rapidly drew fireplace on-line. Followers and critics alike voiced issues: Was Nothing Extra outsourcing artwork to a machine? Did this undermine the human factor central to music?
As an alternative of letting the backlash fester in silence, frontman Jonny Hawkins personally waded into the web storm. Responding on to followers, he addressed questions starting from inventive authenticity to the specter of job loss. The dangerous opinions are sturdy on this one.
When challenged about whether or not AI would possibly endanger musicians in the identical approach it is impacting different industries, Hawkins (through captures from The PRP) did not maintain again: “AI is not a hazard to good artists, solely shitty ones. Good artists know that instruments evolve they usually evolve with them … If AI can join with folks as authentically, write pretty much as good of songs with nuance, and carry out them in a approach that satisfies folks in a approach that an actual human can, then it deserves to take my job. That is evolution.”
Which frankly, is a fucking horrible opinion. That feels just like the inventive equal of trickle down economics – simply be good and you will not get rolled out! Yeah man, certainly the grinding mechanisms of capitalism work that work.
One fan argued that AI basically undermines artwork as a result of artwork is meant to be a human expression of humanity. Hawkins pushed again, stating that know-how has lengthy been a part of the inventive course of.
“This logic is flawed. There’s a enormous distinction between letting a machine create one thing and utilizing a machine to create one thing. 9 Inch Nails is an ideal instance of a prolific artist who used machines to sculpt their sound. It is all about how you utilize the instrument that determines artwork, not which instruments you might be utilizing.”
To additional dispel the notion that AI had changed human creativity within the video, Hawkins clarified how the challenge got here collectively. A director was very a lot a part of the method, working intently with Hawkins to form the idea, storyboard, and execution.
“I actually labored with the artist straight. Lmao. I had ideas that I shared with him and we bounced inventive concepts backwards and forwards on a number of calls. Then he story-boarded, generated and edited a number of variations collectively… like we do with virtually each challenge we tackle. … The imaginative and prescient dictates the medium and instruments that we use.”
Anyway, I am gonna go AI-generate a Nothing Extra document and promote it. If Nothing Extra actually does rock, they will beat me at my very own sport, as a result of in Hawkins‘ personal dumb phrases – “AI is not a hazard to good artists, solely shitty ones.”
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