You’re in a club, the music’s pounding and the lights are flashing.
You look up to the DJ booth but there’s no-one there, because it’s an AI-generated mix.
With mixing software getting more sophisticated and venues cutting back on budgets, that’s the worry of some people in the dance music industry.
But can a computer programme ever replace the real-life connection between a DJ and a crowd?
In a word, no. At least not in Nooriyah’s opinion.
She’s a 28-year-old DJ who lives in London. She plays venues around the world, sometimes to crowds of more than 40,000 people.
AI programmes have been available in her industry for years, recommending songs to mix based on their tempos.
But they haven’t taken Nooriyah’s job yet, and she thinks she knows why.
“Because the way that I connect with my audiences is very difficult to replicate,” she says.
In March this year, an East London venue hosted an AI rave to mixed reviews, with some saying the music felt “dry and empty”.
It may be that humans make the best DJs but it’s not such a straightforward story for producers.
As well as being a DJ, Nooriyah makes her own music.
Her creative process currently involves experimenting with different sounds on software, before mastering tracks. It’s this final stage where AI is coming in.
“To me, the conversation about AI in producing is very overdue,” she says.
“There are already at least 10 different software programmes that mix music and could put producers out of jobs”.
She wants to see a better dialogue between those in the music industry and AI developers.
“I think the danger here is there’s work being done without a discussion about what it would mean for the music industry.”
One solution, she says, is to tax the AI companies.
“Firstly, let’s slow down the release of these AI programmes, and tax the developers, investing that money in putting on training for people who lose their jobs to AI.”
Credit: bbc.com
