Empire Of The Sun’s Luke Steele has admitted that he uses AI to create music, saying the tech can “empower artists that know how to use it”.
During an interview with iHeartRadio Canada at last weekend’s Osheaga festival in Montreal, the frontman of the Australian synth-pop duo was asked whether he used artificial intelligence in his work.
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“Of course,” he replied, before the interviewer noted many artists’ aversion to AI, such as Mac DeMarco, SZA, Lorde and Jack Antonoff – the latter of whom called AI music creators “godless whores”.
“Yeah, I love the battle now,” Steele went on (via Consequence). “It’s quite exciting – the humans versus AI!” He then called AI “just another tool” for musicians, adding: “It’s like a really smart guitar pedal.”
When asked what he would say to those who criticise AI’s place in the creative process when it comes to art, Steele responded: “I think you’ve got to be careful, you know? ‘Cause it’s so powerful that the AI is going to empower artists that know how to use it, and they’re going to become unstoppable.
“So the artists that are against it: I think you’ve gotta be careful, you know? Because it’s going to come and swallow you like a boogie monster at night.”
Steele said musicians have “got to embrace” the growing tech, before laughing off a question about the “environmental impact” of AI.
Last week, Boy George admitted that he used AI to help write his new pro-Israel reggae song ‘We Will Dance Again’. Bandcamp subsequently took down the track, telling NME it was “removed based on violation of our Acceptable Use & Moderation Policy, which in specific regard to this case, prohibits music and audio that is wholly or in substantial part created, composed, or generated by artificial intelligence”.
George said earlier this year that the tech had “really helped [him] as a lyricist”, adding: “I have fantastic conversations with ChatGPT. And I’ll say: ‘Oh, those lyrics are crap. That’s not what I would say.’ You know what I mean? But, actually, you can train it.”
Around the same time, Apple Music shared plans to let users know if they were listening to music that had been made using AI. This followed a study last year that revealed that 97 per cent of people “can’t tell the difference” between real and AI-created music.
Deezer revealed last month that AI-generated music now surpassed 50 per cent of daily uploads on the platform. In June, TIDAL confirmed that it would not be paying royalties for any music made entirely by artificial intelligence.
Elsewhere, Spotify said last autumn that it was removing 75million “spammy tracks” and targeting impersonators – especially given findings that AI-created material was being uploaded to dead musicians’ profiles without permission.
This summer, various music industry bodies from around the globe wrote an open letter calling on artists and songwriters to offer consent before going into any AI deals. Major acts such as Paul McCartney, Kate Bush, Dua Lipa and Elton John previously led a campaign urging the government to protect musicians’ work.
The government then announced this March that it would ditch “deeply damaging” plans to allow AI firms to use copyrighted works without permission.
Empire Of The Sun appeared at this year’s Osheaga last Saturday (August 1), following a slot at Lollapalooza 2026 on Thursday (July 30). They played at London’s Alexandra Palace in June, as part of a wider UK and European tour.
The duo’s fourth and latest studio album, ‘Ask That God’, was released in 2024. It features the singles ‘Changes’ and ‘Music On The Radio’.
