AI Art: A Solution Without A Problem

[@Icarusvideo]

Hey Benn, might be a bit slow on the ball here but here we go: Really happy to hear you're enjoying my work and thank you for the bandcamp support!

[@allyourgardeningneeds]

I think you touch on a key point in this video: empathy. As the post-digital era accelerates, the more we look for human contact -- the rise of Twitch is one great example (notwithstanding its clear flaws and inherent problems). As someone deeply involved with the underground of metal, I don't really care how amazing AI black metal, for example, could be; I'm a lot more interested in supporting that person who put their soul into a bedroom demo and released it on Bandcamp without much hope of ever getting listened. Because I can relate: as an electronic music artist, I've released eight albums in 15 years and never got a penny, and I'm fine with it. The rare occasions when someone gets in touch to tell me how my music was enjoyable, or helped them through whatever, is the real feedback I'm looking for.

[@adisaikkonen]

This also means that you can't be a musician anymore, you have to be an "influencer" or "internet personality". Not everyone is good at that, or willing to do it. But not like we have a choice: That's what's actually making money. In fact, you might as well not make music - people seem to be doing fine (honestly - better) by just posting vlogs of themselves eating unhealthy amounts of food and sending themselves to a hospital. Probably better to not make music even.

[@rorybninetythree]

@@adisaikkonen No - I think the point here is you just do something both yourself and other people believe in.

[@sirzebra]

@@adisaikkonen you dont create art for others first, that was never the case, and it will never be. Ai is a tool like a guitar is a tool.

[@VenusTheory]

I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ARE SO LEVEL HEADED! PANIC! CHAOS! REAL ART MAN! THERE'S NO SOUL MAN! HUMAN MUSIC SOUNDS WARMER! Thank you for being a voice of reason once again. I'm not touching this topic again anytime soon 😅

[@Lantertronics]

In engineering we already try to get computers to do as much as we can, and we train our students to use such tools early. We also teach them to do rough back-of-the-envelope sanity checks, since it's easy to put the wrong information into the tools, or sometimes the tools will default to certain assumptions for computational efficiency and you have to know to go change those. So if a machine learning algorithm can design a circuit for me that achieves certain specifications -- fantastic! I can then work on other things.

[@shaboogen]

Legitimately one of your best videos. We're so lucky to have you as a creator on this platform mate.

[@forcastfascistfuture]

Straight up. This has given me so much to think about.

[@Smelsert]

I think the crux of the whole AI Art debate is more of collective society not valuing the work and labor of creatives and the time and value it takes to make something that is your own.

[@alohatigers1199]

As a customer, do you care about cashiers and how much they make or would you rather do a kiosk/self checkout because what’s the point of cashiers when you can do it yourself. You see the problem? Welcome to capitalism.

[@stateazure]

@@alohatigers1199 Bad analogy and not really comparable. Most people don't care or appreciated those cashiers even before self checkouts, in fact many probably prefer the machines since they're less likely to make mistakes and they're faster, but besides that this is not really a good comparison with human created art

[@politesociety]

@@stateazure as someone with social anxiety and someone who has been on both side of the checkout, the self service checkouts are one of the best inventions of our time.

[@LiminalQueenMedia]

​@@stateazure"my creative labor is specialer than your labor" lol chauvinistic bullshit petite bourgeoisie attitude.

[@SoManyTails-pr2ms]

i think they just try to scare us into reacting i mean who has the time to read and watch everything on youtube and face book and everything else and still have time for a life, who honestly knows every side of the story and then tells it without bias?

[@ChunterInfo]

I told a subreddit debating AI art, "My feelings on this are not as strong, because I come from electronic music where people have accused Moog synthesizers of making whole records and even accusing organs of ruining live musicians' livelihoods. In the long run, attempts to make music available to anyone have brought more people to music than it has sent away."

[@shadowdemonaer]

I like the way you worded this. It feels good.

[@Thesamurai1999]

The music industry gets more privelege than artists. They don't dare to take copyrighted music, but gladly take copyrighted images for Stable Diffusion. That's why music composers have nothing to worry about whereas artists do. These are the words of Dance Diffusion: "Dance Diffusion is also built on datasets composed entirely of copyright-free and voluntarily provided music and audio samples. Because diffusion models are prone to memorization and overfitting, releasing a model trained on copyrighted data could potentially result in legal issues. In honoring the intellectual property of artists while also complying to the best of their ability with the often strict copyright standards of the music industry, keeping any kind of copyrighted material out of training data was a must."

[@fischergreen4134]

I have a copyright free music resource that I created for fellow content creators however I am uncomfortable with a AI model using this music to train it's self with out having to ask me This was not my intended purpose for the music when I made it available under the creative commons licence I am now considering taking it down Or filling it with music created with AI If you can't beat them Then join them

[@Thesamurai1999]

@@fischergreen4134 What would you do if they started taking copyrighted music?

[@fischergreen4134]

@@Thesamurai1999 hit them with a cease and desist. My web developer has just taken the free music site down while I consider what to do

[@brabdnon]

It’s funny, Benn. I came to music as a broken man, suffering one of the Great Losses one can experience in life, the death of a child. Music became my emergency catharsis valve in a time when I lacked the will and emotional maturity to cope. I loved music, but I didn’t know how to write music or play instruments, so I downloaded Abelton and got to work. And you know, it worked. Music and writing songs became a new medium for me to express myself and the grief came pouring out like a ruptured abscess. I’m so grateful for it, that I can’t imagine ever wanting to taint that space with a commercial intent, if that makes sense? I do get it, though. People gotta eat. I’m lucky that I work in a stable profession that gives me the income and time to not worry about that part of it. There’s the other side of it, though: you want people to interact with your art object because the more people have a relationship with them, the more you, in some small way, will live on. I’m sterile. No more shots at children after we lost our last. But I am stuck wondering if anything of me that I create is worth sharing or should I resubmit it to the inky black depths of the subconscious space whence it emerged? I find your comment about your Mandala songs to be soothing, in that regard. That’s a beautiful and healthy way to be with your creative apparatus. Seeing this video reminds me that I think it’s up to me to continue to create without expectation of a goal for the object of creation or that it will be consumed by anyone other than myself. I am blessed to be touched by the muses and must delight in their present bliss, their soothing, and their sense of a connection to something much greater than self.

[@NoiseBoulderRecords]

Wonderful words. I hope you are doing better now.

[@brabdnon]

@noiseboulderreocrds Thank you for your concern and empathy. I am quite well today. My best friend has several children and one evening we concluded that while he continues his life through his children he is like the branch of a tree carrying a vital stem to support branches, leaves, flowers and, eventually, fruit. And my place in existence is to be the flower, the end of the line of a tree of humanity that stretches back a few hundred thousand years. We made it this far. Here we lie. My goal is to live a full and beautiful life, comport myself with grace, dignity and humor to gild the petals of my being before withering before the face of the ages and blowing away in the winds of time.

[@lemonberries]

Even though Ai art is relatively new, I've already noticed people being called out as "unoriginal" for using it as a profile picture or posting images. Perhaps once everyone overuses Ai art/music, it will inevitably lose its appeal ironically, making human art more meaningful to society in the process.

[@-LTUIiiin]

Doubt it. Ai will change and get better. It wont be the same forever.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@-LTUIiiinso far people’s mental “AI detectors” have kept pace with the progress, and most people seem to still think it looks like crap (or at least bland af). I think we’ll continue to see businesses using it for “stock imagery” but anyone attempting to use it for proper art will be laughed out of the room. Everyone I know doing “AI music” is really making a carefully manually mixed mashup/collage of dozens or hundreds of mediocre outputs that have a few seconds with potential. Like plunderphonics but for computer generated sounds rather than spoken word. And even then it was more of a novelty and they’re not doing it much anymore.

[@politesociety]

I never thought AI being an argument for burning down copyright laws as they stand. I love this idea. Let's reset the laws that only serve corporations and not the artists.

[@Soul-Burn]

Case in point: Disney keeps lobbying to get copyright longer to protect Mickey Mouse, while some of their (past) greatest hits are based on public domain stories.

[@politesociety]

@@Soul-Burn also I've heard that that classic "you wouldn't steal a car" anti piracy ad stole the music they used. It's all pretty hypocritical.

[@finadoggie]

@@politesociety iirc the anti piracy video that stole music wasn’t the “you wouldn’t steal a car” video, it was a different video

[@politesociety]

@@finadoggie thanks for that, i had thought my original source for that was quite reliable, but it turns out this is another one of those "do your own research" deals. Thanks for the correction.

[@frankvazquez5974]

One power hungry entity declines, another one will take its place.

[@vincentbilodeau2467]

Thank you for this video. As a 23 year old janitor who dropped out of music school and once held the dream of ''making it'' in the music business I went through a range of feelings watching this but I think your conclusion really brought it home so damn well. Can't quite put into words how much I needed to hear this.

[@andreborges2881]

Put your goddamned music out there. Just do it

[@reviewyourownadventure2083]

AI listens to 30 hours of Flashbulb and cranks out a new Aphex Twin track.

[@DerekMantei]

lol🤣

[@somedude3443]

That's such an insult to Aphex Twin... but I still chuckled 😁

[@ariak9858]

thank u for another banger video. i have tried and failed multiple times to write how this piece of media made me feel, and it's too much to put in one comment. your videos are inspiring and meaningful and all around a good time. speaking as a music school dropout who feels like she gave up her one chance to seriously pursue music, your perspective at 15:46 is helpful reminder that there is still so much art i can make if i let go of the music-success-affluenza burned into my brain.

[@ericday492]

The section titled "Reinventing Value", specifically from 14:41-16:24 had me tearing up. What a beautiful summary about what music/art can be. A counterpoint to creating full songs and subsequently deleting them is that I am so happy for the artists who chose to release their demos/songs/albums for the rest of the world to hear. Because, although playing music is a joy unto itself, listening to somebody's creative endeavors can be, at times, equally enjoyable and inspiring. So thank you Benn, for not deleting any of the music from your albums which have inspired me (and certainly countless others) throughout the years. Also, thank you for creating such interesting content. I am always looking forward to watching your videos, no matter the subject matter, because I know it will be both interesting and well-researched.

[@deeorlando6536]

I love your sense of humor. Your comments on the industry are always so realistic and relatable. Have a good day, dude.

[@sanjacobs6261]

AI art didn't ruin photography, it is ruining digital painting. As someone with extremely bad painting skills, but great image-editing skills, I would've probably hired many artists in my lifetime for custom artwork. Now, that I can just bop on to Midjourney and have it generate the results I want in 10 minutes, I'm probably hiring 95% fewer artists over my lifetime.

[@PaulOrtiz]

Good video! Also just to touch on the Affluenza part - one thing I've noticed is that only now 'skilled' jobs like, art, music, writing and tech are at risk of automation has it gone 'too far'. Many trades have been drastically altered by automation. And most of us have been fine with it. Because our 'stuff' is cheap and plentiful. Wanting to throw your sabos into the machine to break it all now that YOUR skill is being devalued (or as the case may be, just made more accessible to more people) just smacks of 'this is a thing that happens to OTHER people;. I say this as a creative, with their eye very much on AI music developments. But also as someone that recognises that all of the negative aspects of it come down to capitalism and commodification and the application of the technology within that framework. Not the technology itself. On a personal level, I have no doubt that people that like my music will continue to want to see me make it. Not click a button and spawn it. As to my chances of making a comfortable living with music? They're about the same as they were before. Slim to none.

[@Smoobloob]

This is great, when you said "it makes me feel immortal" is totally relatable. I have a sample or two I've made that are in another artist's song(with my permission ofc) and it makes me feel phenomenally alive to think about and be reminded of. Somebody used *MY* cool bass sound to make *THEIR* cool bass song.

[@userfriendlysounds]

I think this is one of the best music/creator videos I’ve ever seen. When you mentioned how lucky we are to be able to escape from things by making things I actually got kinda misty eyed. So many strong messages in this video. Thank you! 🦆😸

[@abhayasky]

Thank you so much for the deeply moving and heart-filled bottom line to this video, which I think is really what we humans are here for... To make or find a beautiful thing and to share it with each other because it's cool. My 4 yo nephew yesterday was eating some calamari and exclaiming, "It's SO GOOD!" He then cut it (the last calamari ring) into small pieces and went around the table offering it to everyone so they could experience his joy. We are this way, naturally.

[@Strenkoo]

So far, my thought on AI generation is: If I need to spend hours researching/figuring out how to get my prompt right to get something that's *almost* what I wanted, why would I not just spend the time learning the base skill instead? Or just pay someone else to do it. Whether that's art, music, writing, code, etc. I see that AI generation is gonna make a huge difference, but it's so incredibly difficult to get it to make exactly what you actually envision as a creator that I can't imagine it interfering heavily with most art markets. Sure, it'll probably make some waves while people test it, but it's not really a substitute for focused projects. Great video! I'm really glad I found your channel a while ago. I love your sit down and chat style of content.

[@alexgrunde6682]

They were talking about AI art on the last Chapo Trap House podcast and they made the point that as more of it enters the public sphere and ergo databases, the AI programs are going to start producing art that’s referencing its own output instead of man-made art. So the AI programs will become an ouroboros of itself.

[@NoiseBoulderRecords]

Programmers can easily handle this by keeping the database fixed.

[@666DemonCleaner]

Isn’t that the same thing that happens with people?

[@mrmcsteezy]

@@NoiseBoulderRecords so limit the entire training of the model to anything pre-openai? That’d stagnate the entire field and wouldn’t be feasible.

[@natew8609]

@@666DemonCleaner the point is that an AI's data training set, will have it's actual human inputs(bound by natural scarcity) become outweighed by AI input (nigh unlimited ouput).

[@yasunakaikumi]

there's already some programs that actually can tell which is AI generated so it maybe not a valid argument haha

[@BackspinZX]

...yeah okay. This makes sense. I do have a tendency to panic a bit when stuff pops up that everyone claims is going to wreck everything, but in this instance I think you're right in that it's not nearly as much of an issue as everyone thinks/wants it to be. It's refreshing to have a grounded take on these things every so often.

[@KTheBoi]

The absolutely maddening realization that it took 4 years of watching your content to realise you're The Flashbulb, an artist I've listened to when I was still in secondary school 🤯

[@Essenger]

A point I often see people try to make is how bad AI generated music sounds now.. it was one of the main qualms I saw when it came to AI artwork, people saying it will never be good, and you see now the insane progress it's made in just a few months. I've been lurking in some discord servers where the next generation of AI music neural networks are being developed and the future of this tech is going to completely blow all these current shitty audio generators out of the water. This will take much longer to achieve than AI art but as an example, you will be able to take an existing song and ask an AI to generate a cover of it by another artist and it will be insanely convincing and perhaps one day completely indistinguishable. As cool as I'll admit that is, it's pretty terrifying. And sadly it's the music sync business that will be the first to be taken over by AI, simply because it will be near instantaneous and will come at the fraction of the cost of a real musician.

[@gidi1899]

I am dividing the each profession to: 1. The creation process 2. The social meaning process The social meaning process is the process of using creations to gain value and meaning. We you ignore knowing about 'supply and demand', all transactions are by request: one person request one creation for themselves. If we don't ignore, than we must understand the contribution of the creation to the current society. The value of art and music starts with the influence over a person, and then over big groups of people. This product is also consumable though with some degree of reuse. so it's value needs to be compared the value of products with a short life span, like clothes. Also this product can be copied. Which means that at very small 'work' effort a copy can be created. So the value drops right after creation. Each creation of a copy require it's recycle once it's unusable. As a rule to promote creation of those type of products, we must give them time to be judged on their value, thus, we must create a space for those products to be consumed with supervision, so copying them carry 'too much work'. Once the product is judged, it should be 'bought for the public' from the creator who up until now only lent the creation for evaluation. Who is supervising the publishing companies in behalf of artists?!

[@andesneko]

I thought you'd mention the ways the industry has changed and how it is still alive. I've lived through many of these changes, but I think this time we are facing something completely different. Not that I personally fear AI, but I definitely think it will negativity impact the industry. How many indie projects will opt to not find a composer and just use AI? It basically changes the networking game at an early level... possibly the most important period for networking.

[@dreaminginnoother]

I just recently came across your channel and I have watched a bunch of your videos already. You make great videos man. Very thorough and interesting. Subbed for sure.

[@TheQuestforGroove]

Wow, I have been thinking about this and wanting to make a video about it explaining why there's not much to worry about and then you drop this gem. Sums it up absolutely perfectly. Thank you!

[@sinane.y]

I find the AI mashup music like the one you showcase at the end EERILY similar to what I hear in my head when I'm in altered states (whether with drugs, or sleep deprivation) : an intense free flow of every music I've heard that has influenced me throughout my life.

[@SineEyed]

You hear music all scattered and random like that? That would drive me friggin nuts. Sometimes I get like a radio playing in my head and someone who is not me keeps changing the stations. But when they find a station that comes in clearly they leave it there for a few seconds at the very least. Sometimes they'll tune in a song and then just ghost and leave it there, and I can't get that fucking song to stop playing in my head to save my life. That shit sucks. Drive me crazy that way too. You know what would help? We need to be able to record the stuff we hear in our mind's ear. My radio guy tunes in to some pretty awesome melodies all the time but it's hard to remember how they go - like trying to recall a dream you just had, shit just vaporizes and wisps away. So a little mini mind recorder would be awesome.. 😋

[@sinane.y]

@@SineEyed It's pretty cool actually, a never ending stream of totally unrelated ideas that flow perfectly from one to the next :) I also hear new songs that are fully arranged, I wish I had a way to record them, cause they disappear as soon as I "wake up" :((

[@midiminion6580]

One if my "aha" moments when it comes to AI is that the best possible outcome that you will get from AI is a derivative collage mashup of all of the songs available on its data bank. I think we are very very far from a point where AI could get inspired by other fields or be bold and create a new direction.

[@kaitlyn__L]

It’s hilarious when Open AI’s music generator (forget the name) spits out one or two seconds that are exactly some pre-existing song with no changes

[@mrrafsk]

As Picasso said “Computers are useless. They can only give you answers”. I use AI as a coder and VFX artist. Where it’s most useful is to do the boring technical stuff, rather than making creative decisions. Imagine a studio that could re-patch all your audio and midi by describing it using natural language. Also tedious tasks like cleaning up source recordings, working out what key/mode and type while sorting out your catalogue of a million samples. Imagine coding pureData or max, using natural language. It’s awesome.

[@C_Corpze]

I thank you for this video. I hope it clears or decreases some of the panic and controversy surrounding AI art. I honestly just see AI as a useful tool to accelerate workflows. I’m an 3D artist, programmer and also learning music production. By having another tool in my toolbox I can do what I love and finish projects sooner and use the time I save for other things I want to spend it on. Also love your humor, style and way of explaining things in your videos!

[@zuur303]

Good reminder about the importance of recognizing the joy of creation. My tracks get modest listens but I gotta keep that sea of 80 million tracks in mind - people still find them. Thirty countries, if my Artist Wrapped is to be believed. That's pretty cool, come to think of it.

[@mruk_exe]

I genuinely needed to hear this. Thank you!

[@willibtx]

I don’t think this video presents the full picture, since it mainly focuses on people who produce and release their own music. I’m a freelance hired musician, and I make my living primarily in two ways. 1: playing shows and touring in other people’s bands, and 2: recording and producing other people’s songs in my recording studio. The former isn’t threatened by AI music creation, but I can honestly see a near future where the latter could be. If AI music generation gets good enough that people can ‘auto-produce’ their own records or demos rather than hiring musicians / engineers / producers to make it for them, this would genuinely cut into my business. Granted, that hasn’t happened yet and I don’t know when or if it will. I guess my point is that not all of us are getting our money from ‘the industry’, but from other musicians, many of whom would be glad to have an AI add a realistic-sounding string section to their track rather than spending $1,000 and most of a day recording three string players over and over.

[@-_-3315]

I love this point of view but I feel like it's not particularly helpful within the illustration/graphic design/animation/painting sphere. For one, art development and copyright fundamentally works differently for us, even in contrast to stock imagery. It's less common for companies to purchase rights to existing works, so a majority of jobs are within generating and designing those characters, environments etc based on company specifications, and then selling the copyright, not just on selling the copyright to readymade work. So AI poses a real threat, as it's a way to get(after considerable tweaking) specific results. Also, unlike music, people freely repost digital art, animation, illustration etc all over the internet for their own purposes uncredited with little recourse except for shaming from those within the creative community, unlike(I may be fuzzy on the details of this, correct me if I'm wrong), music where at least on youtube you will get a copyright strike. Theres already an implicit devaluation of people who spend time on visual art, and it's incredibly common for companies worldwide to simply steal designs and slap them on a t-shirt, pay a little fee if the artist even finds out, and go about their merry way doing it again. Now, multiply that disrespect by AI generation and you have a whole different ballpark. Artists who spend years honing their craft and style are ripped off in minutes, and the people who do it often laugh at the very people they took reference from for being angry. Days after Illustration legend Kim Jung-gi died there was an AI model of his work. People frequently make AI models of specific artists' work and act confused or combative when the artists react to their style being used for something they don't support. I don't entirely hate AI art, i feel like as a tool it could make it easier for working and independent artists to iterate, do tedious or repetitive work like inbetweening or coloring an animated scene, so we could work on more projects in our lifetimes, but within the current system, unleashed, its impact is just another blow to the art community. Also not to discredit your experiences with patreon/monthly supporters, but doesn't supporting art in that way lean into monetizing relationships with the artist just as much as it does the art? I feel like there have to be ways of being paid for what you create that don't also revolve around being a saint or interacting with fans the right way all the time. In general, I agree that current copyright law is somewhat dogshit and should lean into protecting creators more than corporations, but that(at least for visual art) just doesn't seem to be a logical replacement.

[@Capumaraca]

Yea his point on AI art is a bit off to me too. I think the fact that he says "AI art" but only focus on photography, and not other form of digital art (something that AI actually have impact, like the recent Netflix AI anime) is a bit, from his own word, cherry picking. I agree with his points on the music. But he really shouldn't put the art part in the beginning. They're different industries, the impacts are different.

[@monhoj8778]

Thank you for this video. Social media feels like a full-blown reactionary panic right now with zero nuance.

[@VIRALBEATS360]

This is definitely a conversation that has been getting a lot of attention, as of recent. While AI is already becoming integrated with audio production, it will still take a human to allocate the AI, in order to achieve a specific result. Your stock image example is perfect. AI calculates a "safe" result, based on specific equations, where a human assumes more abstract risk, with intentional experimentation. While we may eventually be able to program more complex algorithms, will AI ever reach a point to "get in the zone" or even take itself to the place where the magic is made? I don't think so...not without that emotional element attached.

[@whormongrmuzik]

Great summation of so many things about art and music in general. As someone who dropped out for a few years here due to fatherhood and the pandemic so scaled back to making music 100% for myself and often like you said, deleting stuff because the point was just to make it. Now I am getting back in the swing of putting things out again this was a great re centering of priorities that really reminds you that you do it for you and when people like it, that is great but not the point (and something to pass on to my daughter now that she wants need to teach her how to play guitar, play drums and write patches so she can form a band 😃)

[@JoshMobleyMusic]

This is a great take and if I’m being honest, made me feel a lot better about the whole. One point I’d like to make. This video is from an artists perspective. And while I think it’s absurd that you feel the need to apologize for talking about your success because other music makers have not found success, I get it. My worries about ai generated music are practical. I mainly write music for television. Lots of it ends up on reality tv. This is an area I believer will absolutely be consumed by ai. When I don’t know but it’s coming. I also see episodes on back catalogs of shows having their soundtracks replaced with ai music so they do t have to pay royalties. I love making music and I love that I get to have a career and put food on the table from making music. Granted, I am not an artist in the way that you are so my perspective is a little different.

[@nothankyou]

"My worries about ai generated music are practical. I mainly write music for television. Lots of it ends up on reality tv. This is an area I believer will absolutely be consumed by ai. When I don’t know but it’s coming. " This is what I think a lot of folks miss when they talk about AI art and its value - in their heads they're thinking about their favourite albums and the mona lisa - and forget that most 'art' created is commercially for throwaway things currently handled by stock libraries and jingle writers. AI will curb-stomp that part of the industry and that's where most creatives are actually working. (like, with jobs - not bandcamp sales). It's about how the creative pivots and utilises this technology. To not would be like an illustrator in the 90s refusing to buy a laptop. AI is a tool like any other.

[@JoshMobleyMusic]

@@nothankyou thankfully, I don’t write for any RF libraries. It’s direct to show for me. I agree with you. RF libraries will be destroyed. They have like what, 500,000 corporate songs on each platform? I’ve never seen so many great composers get their balls chopped off after going from writing really interesting music to making videos on how to write a successful corporate song.

[@MrZigzter]

Thoroughly appreciate how genuine and insightful you are

[@pistonsjem]

Sir i congratulate you on this very polarizing video! personally, i dont care (lol) i've used stable diffusion to make funny images for memes but cant draw for sh*t, Its very cool tech wise (but very compute demanding). one thing i've noticed is the doomsday type people dont understand that the AI spouts out garbled nonsense 90% of the time, so you either reiterate or open photoshop to get something usable.

[@IanSmithKSP]

Benn, I’ve always loved your music. Since about 2006 I’ve been listening, but somewhere along the line I fell off. The good news is you have a thriving KZbin channel I can dig through and quite a few new albums. I’m excited to see what you’ve been up to and I’m glad to see you so successful. It’s clear that your work ethic has paid off - a valuable message to many of us who might have the occasional illusion that success is everything to do with birthright or luck. You’ve made it. Congratulations

[@nicktefft6225]

First thing I ever heard about your music was your thoughts on piracy like a decade ago, and that drew me in. It's been cool finding you had a youtube and seeing you formulate your opinions on all these topics. Please keep it up. I'd love to see more advanced FL workflow tips in some of your future videos as well.

[@OscarUnderdog]

This is an awesome reflection Ben, appreciate you so much!

[@Vexruna]

probably the healthiest perspective to have right now

[@jerrymartin79]

It truly is a gift - “this immediately accessible thing” - so very well put Benn. I am an enthusiastic amateur rather than professional musician but am so grateful and could not imagine life without music. I have enjoyed a lot of your content recently and your thoughts really resonate with me. Keep up the amazing work and thanks for all you do!

[@TheWilliamHoganExperience]

Another technological phenomena you might wanna look into is the whole "Dog licking it's own balls" thing. But first - I LOVE it when someone like you recongnizes and deconstructs some trendy cutting edge technological development and then outs it as "A solution without a problem" Well done! I'm a muscian now, but used to be an architecture and design professor. I taught software like AutoCAD for many years. AutoCAD is one of the most un-user-freindly, complex and baffling pieces of "productivity software" ever developed. Worse yet, it's constantly "upgraded" so that users are kept off-balance. Most of the "upgrades" are "solutions without problems. Worse, major upgrades ALWAYS come freighted with BUGS. Lots and lots of bugs.....There IS a reason this is done: To sell more software and software support. When a company as large and sucessful as AutoDESK brings anything to market, it's done deliberately because the venal eggheads in marketing and executive suites think it's gonna make them MONEY. Now for the "Dog Licking It's Own Balls" paradox. The solution to this paradox explains why technology tends towards increasing features and complexity rather than towards optimization of existing, known useful features: Q: "Why does a dog lick it's own balls?" A: "Because it CAN" Far too many software engineers sit around dreaming up new ways to lick their own testes rather than addressing and solving actual problems with their programs utility and especially, usability. Q: Why develop Ai based music composition software? A: Because they CAN. Those sweaty, hairy, musty nuts are simply too irresitable to ignore! Gotta double over an git-some!!! And just like dogs, they never stop and think: "Sure, I can lick my own balls. Sure, it feels good. VERY good. But is it actualy something useful??? Should I really be doing it in public???" Then again, guys like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Elon Musk became billionaires by convincing the rest of us to pay them to slobber their own sacks. Speaking of which, I've gotta get back to my compulsive gaming addiction. Mmmmm sweaty and meaty! =)

[@TheOutsider69]

9:46 Oops... In just 1 year since this video was uploaded, AI music has advanced so rapidly that it's almost indistinguishable from professionally produced music made by actual humans. Complete with coherent vocals/lyrics. Some of them sound a little off but well within the range of what could be done by a human. I genuinely think most people couldn't tell the majority of these songs are 100% generative AI. Just check out the LTT video on it. Truly dystopian. We need the Butlerian Jihad like yesterday imo. 💀

[@JacobTeach]

That is amazing news. Not sarcastic.

[@captainoctonion9045]

bro these "amazing" AI songs sound like a compressed mp3, what are you talking about

[@synthshoot1026]

Lets return to this video ten years from now.

[@paulski7307]

Thank you 🤖💙🤖💙🤖💙🤖💙🤖💙🤖💙🤖💙🤖💙🤖💙🤖💙🤖💙🤖💙🤖💙🤖💙🤖💙🤖

[@Unit_With_Legs]

Lately i have felt like an alien trying to find someone like minded. You are level headed, realistic and honest and well put. There are so many channels looking to just be like, best this, music tip that, etc. It makes me happy to see your art isn't killed by commerce. Thank you.

[@foxorian]

For myself as a professional artist, I'm not worried about AI taking my job. I'm just straight up sick of seeing the slop it creates showing up everywhere along with the equally uncanny people who use it cropping up to tell us how great it all is and that we need to embrace it almost like it's some kind of cult.

[@middaymeds]

Benn is now an accelerationist when it comes to music and I'm totally fine with it

[@Zakaarus]

Based benn

[@ktreier]

A bit dated now. Red Lobster used AI to source music for a nationwide ad campaign that likely would have paid a real producer quite well.

[@DEVAULT.]

. . My music will never be copied. Hear it for yourself . . The ones who fear are the ones who aren't creative enough, period.

[@skiddzie9291]

This isnt about money, its about machines outclasing us and humans losing the ability to share creations and give joy to others

[@vgod4eva]

Your communication is great, Ben. It’s balanced and humble. I like your thoughtfulness. Thanks

[@_truck]

Really love and appreciate your take on this. Always helpful to have this sort of solid kick in the pants for a reminder why I do this stuff in the first place. It also included a hilarious serendipitous moment where an ad for a music licensing service played right after you got done trashing (or shall I say revealing) the viability of music licensing as revenue generation.

[@keplers_dog]

Such a strong and transparent take. Thank you, Benn.

[@Mitouson]

I love to play. I haven't played for years. I used to play the Violin. Through it all I have never lost the love of music. It (music) still speaks to me is a way that words and feelings can never reach. I appriciate your channel, It allows me to sup in the soul of music and commune with that part of me that I don't get in touch with as often as i would like to. Thank you for your work.

[@CortMarshal]

If AI helps take the INDUSTRY out of the music industry, it will benefit artists, just like all the other times the music industry has been in 'trouble'.

[@Thespikedballofdoom]

It feels incredibly good to hear someone who isn't stuck on getting money out of it in the end. I feel like so much is conspiring to make me feel absolutely horrible for watching stuff for free, even though it's at worst a net zero interaction... and also to hear someone also talking about ai datasets vs real people getting inspired by things. I see so many artists that write something like "Don't repost my art, ever!" I could never understand how you can live with yourself like that. I guess I can't understand as well as I've never had to struggle much for a single thing. But in the presence of the internet where you can find nearly everything I don't know how someone would make something more for money than for fun and be satisfied with themselves.

[@venjsystems]

Great video Benn, I have been having difficult conversations with music making friends who are anti-AI lately and you summed it up nicely.

[@StorytellingHeadshots]

While I appreciate the spirit of this, the problem is each one of those technologies did cut out some of the viability of middle of the road “workmanlike” middle class musicians from making a living. Look up Jaron Lanier for more info regarding how technology advances tend to take a BIG slice from the income not of the people who imagine making it big, but literally from the average working musician. There are reams of data on this. I’m not saying AI will entirely replace the artist. But it is likely a similar shrinkage will happen as it always ha: taking a big swath out of the middle.., leaving a few big winning artists at the top, but serious impeding the workday musician/artist from earning a living wage off their creative work.

[@theredshirts7245]

I don’t fear AI will replace me…I fear the middle managers and corporate hacks that think an AI is “good enough” because it is a far cheaper product than an artists wage.

[@seasearch]

I would love to have my art be my career. I started out just drawing, did a little painting, worked with colored pencils and pastels. Just doing more traditional stuff. I thought how cool would it be to be recognized and potentially sell some of my art. Started slowly posting it to various places and moved on to digital art cause it saved me money on materials. I watched as almost no one really commented, liked or viewed my work but I still continue to make it. I may not be the best, I may not make a lot, but I still have a blast spending free time hunched over my ipad, drawing all day. I have concerns about the rise of AI image generators, but I haven't made a living off my art ever. No AI is going to stop me from making it, or replace me in my art. I love your videos. Oddly enough I have seen more musicians with level headed videos on AI generators than I have seen visual artists. Have a good holiday and thanks for all your work. It always makes my day.

[@jshiggity]

Respect to the transparency, sir. New to your content and really glad it found me.

[@PeterYiffin]

I was NOT prepared for that Happy Birthday image

[@andycordy5190]

Your empathy is incredibly touching. Thank you for thinking this through so thoroughly and presenting this with your head on the block. I came close to the music business in the early 80 when House began it's domination of the mainstream. The whole scene stank and was filled with of people who were filled with shit (copyright strike Stephen Sondheim). I turned my back on the work I'd done to go from band member frontman to emergent technology, midi composition and primitive sampling, stored it all away and went to art school. I gave that studio away to a performance academy 20 years later. Coming back to music creation in my dotage, nothing has really changed except my ability to assimilate the tech. I agree with you 100% BTW. The unison Chordpack ad. ran immediately after I screened your vid. (Hawks and spits)

[@cuchimama420]

Really like how you nuanced your position there.

[@xSaintxSmithx]

Benn, you honestly don't seem like a douche bag, you're just a genuine professional trying to look out for indie musicians. You've made it clear that you're on the side of the underdogs, and you (probably) aren't some corporate sleeper agent, so I think it comes across the right way due to your reputation.

[@INADRM]

Those DALLE 2 pictures you used to describe the timeline of music almost made me spit out my drink

[@whirrings]

Thanks Benn, I found this very positive and it reminded me that the best thing to do is just go and make more music! 😎👍

[@Lambda_Ovine]

i know that, no matter what, whether capitalism accommodates it or not, if/when we transition to a different system all together in which copyright law and economies of artificial scarcity do not make sense anymore, people will keep creating and people will keep want others to create

[@alecjahn]

Amazing how, with the advances in AI abilities over just a year and a half, the message still stands perfectly.

[@somniamagus]

Been listening since Red Extensions Of Me (which I pirated, lol) and while I've supported in other ways, today I resolved the embarrassment of not being a Patreon subscriber. Thanks for quelling some of the anxiety around a subject that (while I'm a virulent critic of, still feel) deserves more moderate voices contributing to the discourse. Here's to the egalitarian, post-commercial creative future, so long as we don't all stave before we get there.

[@HealyHQ]

If we're heading into a post-commercial future, we really need a UBI so artists don't starve...

[@plachenko]

Thank you for your rational view on this wave of generative art that is happening. I have to say, today has been an exciting day for music generation-- I had the chance to listen to sample outputs of harmonAI and a text-to-waveform image model built on stable diffusion called 'riffusion'. It's an exciting time for new noises and sounds! I'm not a professional musician but new collaborative forms of art excite me. This technology opens paths for a new form of language beyond ego driven needs to be better than others. This is the doorway to complete understanding of all living things and love. The view of needed wealth and perverted view of property is the only thing that's keeping us from stepping forward and solving problems. Life is shared, we are all family. Peace and love!

[@wendelynmusic]

At one point you talked about making money one way so you could make your music without the business of making music get in the way. This reminded me of something that Charles Ives said. Paraphrasing - You should protect your musical vision fiercely. Therefore find a way to make money that allows you to follow your musical vision without compromise.

[@StevenDiLeo]

As a creative being, I've been struggling this past year trying to disassociate the business side and the creative side, because it definitely can suck the fun out of it when you are trying to make a business out of your creative side, which is unfortunate, because it would be nice to make a nice living with music, but it's not worth trading creative freedom for. We just need to focus on whatever it is we want to create, and forget whether or not someone else or something else can do it faster/easier. Those things aren't YOU. * You didn't come off as a douchebag, you are transparent without having an ego about it

[@famitory]

as far as i can tell from observation it seems like monetizing creativity just kinda... sucks and isn't fun. i think i'll keep my day job so creating stuff can continue to be stress free.

[@jeremybarnes7873]

Good musings, thank you. I turned down a Sony deal back in 1997 due to learning about the ownership structure behind big labels, with companies named Lockheed, Martin, Grumman, Daimler and all the other military giants and war profiteers whose names I learned as a young geek, studying war history and technology. Well done, young me.

[@bman3977]

I have a father and other family members constantly concerned for me and the music/art industry because of this AI thing but now I can confidently say that everything is going to be fine. Thanks for the reassurance Benn!

[@RosentwigMusic]

Brilliant video Benn! Your perspectives are always really intriguing and refreshing. Also the 10:02 moment caught me so off guard, I literally laughed out loud.

[@johnchedsey1306]

As a non musician who likes to make music, I do find certain AI tools have their place. In particular, Lectric Panda's Aggregate Music System extension for Reason is great fun. I've devised a whole elaborate system of random number generators to spew MIDI files to then cut up, rearrange and apply instrument patches to. But despite the initial source of the musical notes, it's a lot of human work and listening for things that actually catch my ear. And there's a lot of choices I make that a computer could not. I've fiddled with the ChatGPT (it's a bit of a joke right now) and lately the AI image generators. The latter is definitely an amazing piece of software, but even taking my own photography as source, or seed, images, the style it spits back out isn't really mine and lacks something. That said, I'm keen on seeing these tools develop so I can meld my own work into unique pieces of art...that still need a human touch.

[@pt3r]

This is by far on of the best video I've seen on the 'tube in a very long time, not the most linear and/or structured but very informative nonetheless. Not gonna lie, that AI generated music based of your music sounded awesome. Thank you for these insightful videos, may your creativity never run dry.

[@russellbrown8760]

Yes Ben! I get it for art. I worry more for people's jobs, not their art.

[@IRuinEvrything]

i use the best adblock i can: i pay for youtube premium. this is actually in the hope that you'll get paid more for my view tho I acknowledge each view's contribution is miniscule. At this point your experience makes you valuable here as a professional thinker in the modern music ecosphere. In my opinion most of the best stuff is made out of love, so probably the way to keep music getting better would be to pay musicians to exist and have the music be free. Then the musicians can make what they love and we can all bask in each others' spectacle.

[@Blabbermouth-w5w]

Recently downloaded LMMS. Got tired of getting copyright notices for my videos using "free to use" music. I wrote my own drumbeat for my motivational videos and using Blender to make my silhouette images. No... not even using clip art. Do I give a flying bonobo if my creations get used by someone else. Frak no... I'm a nobody and will always be a nobody. Makes no difference to me.

[@rianjams]

just beautiful, i love music as a hobby because i can make whatever i want and not worry about the business side at all….. i hope we get to the point where anyone can do that with post scarcity and what not

[@emptyshellaxiom]

16:35 You made money with music (including this ad licensing deal) and there's no shame in this. In fact, your transparency about the deal is appreciated. Coming from metal and hardcore-punk before I start making electronic music, I can confidently say that aspiring musician need to stop fetishizing art and stop demonizing money, because in the end we all live in a capitalist society (or a giant sausage, who knows) and even in pre-capitalist, harvester-hunter society, music serves a societal purpose, not the sheer pleasure of the musician. TLDR : I'm really pissed by the "IA haters" that scream about "plagiarism" without thinking about heir own influences, and I agree with the point you make about the music industry designed unfairness. BTW, really appreciated your channel, which I recently discovered with the famous drama.

[@AndrewSouthworth]

Awesome video dude! Really like the comparison you made how humans are essentially learning from other people's music their whole lives, yet they don't pay royalties to the artists that inspired them. I tried explaining that to someone once but didn't know how to phrase it. This whole AI thing is going to be a legal nightmare likely, but I can't imagine its going to make a dent in most artist's incomes at least in our lifetime. Unless that artist solely relies on making basic background music as their main form of income.

[@fragmented_music]

In a world of endless sound, Where music fills the air, AI music generators abound, A tool that's beyond compare. They help to create new beats, And save time on tedious tasks, They inspire fresh new feats, And open up new paths. For artists and producers, they're a boon, A source of endless inspiration, They'll help them create tunes That will set the imagination ablaze with elation. So fear not, dear musician, Your career won't be done, AI music generators will only add to your ambition, Your talents will still be won. For with this powerful tool at your side, The possibilities are endless, You'll be able to create with pride, And your music will be a success. -ChatGPT

[@ezranixon7699]

I think what upset me about it most is that theres no way to tell thst my original music was created by me and not an AI

[@jamesmcasey]

This was fantastic. Thank you!

[@koraamis5568]

3:27 - 3:54 If you gonna play a game, know the rules, know what you can win, what you can loose, and know who else is playing.

[@RyanLeach]

Great video Benn, reasonable perspective and insights

[@beardyman]

Hell yeah bro

[@xdoctorblindx]

This channel needs more love. Algorithm bump!