Mick Jagger has argued it’s OK for creators to experiment with artificial intelligence (AI) in their music if it sounds “original”.
In an interview for Billboard published on Thursday, the Rolling Stones frontman was asked for his take on the rise of the controversial technology.
“Obviously, I don’t want to be imitated by AI, vocally and instrumentally, and the band doesn’t. I don’t want people just putting stuff out there that can sound exactly like The Rolling Stones – I think that’s obviously wrong,” he said. “If someone wants to make music by AI, go ahead. But it has to be original – you have to have your own input and your own thoughts.”
The Satisfaction rocker went on to emphasise that he doesn’t condone people using AI to make music in the exact “style” of the Rolling Stones.
“If you were any kind of creative person, you wouldn’t do that,” the 82-year-old insisted.
And Jagger’s bandmate, Keith Richards, shared a similar sentiment, emphasising that authenticity will always be central to creating original art.
“My thoughts are: I’d rather hear something original. Music could do a lot better than just trying to copy itself. After all, it’s pretty simple stuff – this is not Beethoven or Bach, and I’ve no doubt AI can do that, but so what? We want new input. We don’t want more and more copying and synthesizing. At least that’s my point of view. Music is to play around with. Surely there’s enough originality without having to copy nursery rhymes,” he mused.
The Rolling Stones’ twenty-fifth studio album, Foreign Tongues, is now available.
