Dr. Dre is sharing his thoughts on AI’s growing role in music.
In an interview with The New York Times alongside his longtime business partner Jimmy Iovine, the legendary rapper and producer called AI a “new tool for creativity” and said he doesn’t see it “as a threat.”
In the piece, published Sunday (Aug. 23), Dre compared resistance to AI with the skepticism that initially greeted drum machines and synthesizers.
“I had a discussion with a few people a few days ago,” Dre told the Times. “They were against AI and I’m like, ‘OK, you sound like the person that would have been against the drum machine when it came out.’ Or synthesizers, right? It’s a new tool for creativity. Some people are afraid of learning new things.”
Dre also acknowledged that he is using AI in his own music, explaining that he views the technology “as a tool to see what it would do with what I just did.”
“I’m embracing it. I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen with this,” he added.
The N.W.A. alum also pushed back on the idea that AI is inherently a threat to musicians. “I think the only people that see it as a threat are the people who have trouble creating,” the superproducer said.
Iovine expressed a similarly optimistic view of AI’s potential in music. The veteran music executive said there are “a lot of closet AI producers out there,” prompting Dre to reply, “That’s a good way to put it. They’re using it, they just don’t want to admit it.”
“I’m very pro-AI in music creation,” Iovine said. “I don’t see the downside at all. There will be some crappy music. There’s crappy music now. In the studio, when gifted people have AI, they’re going to make better records.”
Dre and Iovine co-founded Beats Electronics and Beats Music before selling Beats to Apple for a reported $3 billion-plus in 2014.
Their comments come as the music industry continues to grapple with the rapid rise of generative AI and questions surrounding creativity, authenticity, copyright and artists’ rights.
Apple Music recently said that its AI Transparency Tags will become visible to listeners later this year as “Made With AI” labels. The platform will require content providers to disclose when AI has been used to create a material portion of content.
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and other music-industry organizations announced a voluntary track-labeling program in July that distinguishes between “AI-Generated” and “AI-Assisted” recordings.
