will.i.am and Sean Paul on embracing artificial intelligence in music

Sky News

14-03-2025

How artificial intelligence will affect our lives going forward is a question being figured out across pretty much all industries right now.
While many in the arts have expressed concerns over how algorithms learn from their work, Black Eyes Peas star will.i.am believes it actually should "inspire you to create".
An early artificial intelligence supporter, he says: "If you're basing what you're going to do tomorrow off yesterday, you're not growing."
The music producer spoke to Sky News after giving a demo of his new AI radio app in London.
Rather than artificial intelligence being something with negative connotations, he insists its potential should "inspire better, broader, deeper, faster…[it] shouldn't stop you from being human".
As one of the most prominent voices to position himself in the pro-AI camp, his enthusiasm is certainly infectious.
Those who turned out to see the demonstration of his app-based platform RAiDiO.FYI got to see the musician and tech entrepreneur challenge one of his AI personas to make a joke comparing computer chips and guacamole chips with reasonably funny results.
He hopes listeners will come to interact and talk with AI presenters in the not-too-distant future.
But is it a gimmick or a taste of the future?
Sky News put it to will that some of his musical counterparts worry AI - with its instant ability for anyone to make a song in his style - waters down the music industry.
"I don't think anything can water down our industry any more than TikTok has," he responded.
"We used to listen to three-minute songs, now we're down to nine seconds….TikTok and that algorithm, you know, changes what record companies are looking for, changes the architecture of the song… it's watered down…we an ocean (sic)."
Sean Paul on embracing AI
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But Jamaican dancehall musician Sean Paul isn't entirely won over by AI's potential.
"It's a pandora's box," the rapper said, speaking to Sky News, "when you open it, it's going to change all the parameters. It's down to you to get used to the game."
"I am apprehensive about certain parts of [it] in terms of making people lazy to writing", the 52-year-old, who has worked with countless stars over his 20-year career, said.
"It can become a toy and make music more dispensable."
He said he recognises there are copyright and ethical considerations with using AI in the music-making process - especially where algorithms are concerned and they may mimic popular sounds.
He said: "If it does happen that AI takes my stuff and I'm never compensated because of it (…) I will fight that.
"It's gonna happen. Already though, I feel me, the artist, the creator, I've got the short end of the stick for a long time. Even before the days of streaming - we get 0.0 something of the product - and it's we that created it."
AI as a 'tool'
However, he also acknowledged that "times have changed" - and that adapting is key to surviving the ever-changing music industry.
Paul says none of his published music has been touched by AI - but he is open to experimenting with it.
"I've used it for trying to finish riddim patterns that I have….I used it as a tool… as I think everybody should."
Some big names in music, like Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Elton John, have openly called for a legal framework to be established to better protect artists, which will.i.am agrees is paramount "to not always lead with greed, especially with powerful systems" like AI.
"There needs to be some type of artificial intelligence constitution….I believe you should be licensed to put out AIs right now and you're not."
AI and copyright concerns
Over 1,000 artists, from Damon Albarn to Kate Bush, recently released a silent album to protest possible changes to UK copyright AI laws.
Dubbed 'Is This What We Want?', its aim was to highlight concern for how their work is potentially being used to develop and train the technology.
While the likes of will.i.am and Sean Paul may be open to seeing where the technology takes them, Alastair Webber believes the government should be taking control rather than loosening the reins.
The co-founder of The Other Songs, an independent music company championing songwriters and artists, says: "We must protect copyright because it really is the economic bedrock of the creative industries that bring so much back."
The son of composer Lord Lloyd Webber, he believes while it's important that big figures within the industry like his father are vocal with their concerns, the stand they're taking is actually for those with their careers ahead of them.