When he emerges from the moors, Hozier brings with him an ancient wisdom. And in the context of a hot-button modern debate, his sagacity doesn't fall short; when asked by the BBC, the Irish singer-songwriter said he would "absolutely" join a hypothetical music industry strike against AI.
There's no way you've managed to miss the ongoing debates about the use of AI — both in music and beyond. It's also notably a factor in the ongoing WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike that has brought Hollywood screeching to a near-halt as writers and actors fight for fair compensation in a film and television industry that's more precarious to make a living in than ever.
Despite his distance as a musician, Snoop Dogg recently cancelled his Doggystyle anniversary concerts in solidarity with the strikers. He has also drawn comparisons with the music industry, noting how the "fucked up" streaming economy is "not working" for either. "We need to figure that out the same way the writers are figuring out," the rapper said back in May.
"Joining in solidarity if there was… action on that? Absolutely," Hozier told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire when asked about the potential for musicians to follow in the writers' and actors' footsteps while promoting his first new album in four years, Unreal Unearth.
"Whether [AI is] art or not, I think, is nearly a philosophical debate," he added. "It can't create something based on a human experience, so I don't know if it meets the definition of art," pretty much echoing writer/director Charlie Kaufman's recent comments on the matter: "AI can't create a moment of humanity. As long as people are doing it and there's that struggle, then there's always a chance that something will come out of it that will be worth something to human beings."
Although the similarities Snoop pointed to are undeniable, and cancelling concerts in solidarity was a nice gesture, the glaring elephant in the room is the lack of a musicians' union equivalent to WGA and SAG-AFTRA. As far as I know, not having a union makes it a little harder to go on strike.
But that's not to say it's impossible, or that there isn't enough concern to warrant it. People are definitely a little freaked out, perhaps especially by how eager big corporations are to cash in on AI-generated songs. The viral popularity of AI-generated Drake and the Weeknd-modelled collaboration back in April (that, yeah, was slightly impressive in its replicative accuracy but mostly just bad?) — and Grimes proceeding to launch her own AI vocal service, taking 50 percent of royalties from any music created with it — mean only one thing's for certain: everything is uncertain.
There's no way you've managed to miss the ongoing debates about the use of AI — both in music and beyond. It's also notably a factor in the ongoing WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike that has brought Hollywood screeching to a near-halt as writers and actors fight for fair compensation in a film and television industry that's more precarious to make a living in than ever.
Despite his distance as a musician, Snoop Dogg recently cancelled his Doggystyle anniversary concerts in solidarity with the strikers. He has also drawn comparisons with the music industry, noting how the "fucked up" streaming economy is "not working" for either. "We need to figure that out the same way the writers are figuring out," the rapper said back in May.
"Joining in solidarity if there was… action on that? Absolutely," Hozier told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire when asked about the potential for musicians to follow in the writers' and actors' footsteps while promoting his first new album in four years, Unreal Unearth.
"Whether [AI is] art or not, I think, is nearly a philosophical debate," he added. "It can't create something based on a human experience, so I don't know if it meets the definition of art," pretty much echoing writer/director Charlie Kaufman's recent comments on the matter: "AI can't create a moment of humanity. As long as people are doing it and there's that struggle, then there's always a chance that something will come out of it that will be worth something to human beings."
Although the similarities Snoop pointed to are undeniable, and cancelling concerts in solidarity was a nice gesture, the glaring elephant in the room is the lack of a musicians' union equivalent to WGA and SAG-AFTRA. As far as I know, not having a union makes it a little harder to go on strike.
But that's not to say it's impossible, or that there isn't enough concern to warrant it. People are definitely a little freaked out, perhaps especially by how eager big corporations are to cash in on AI-generated songs. The viral popularity of AI-generated Drake and the Weeknd-modelled collaboration back in April (that, yeah, was slightly impressive in its replicative accuracy but mostly just bad?) — and Grimes proceeding to launch her own AI vocal service, taking 50 percent of royalties from any music created with it — mean only one thing's for certain: everything is uncertain.
