Featured Image Credit: Chris McGrath / Staff via Getty
We might just have reached a major turning point for the music industry, as an AI artist is currently topping a Billboard chart for the very first time, earning itself over 2 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
There is an increasing number of industries that have had to worry about artificial intelligence over the last few years, as emails, press releases, and even university essays are being written with or assisted through the use of the technology at an alarming rate.
With the ever evolving capabilities of AI outside of text-based tasks though it was only a matter of time before it became 'good enough' for the average person not to notice, which also perhaps says a lot about the current state of some popular media.
AI enthusiasts have been desperate to show off the tool's capabilities to create 'Hollywood-like' short films, we've seen the introduction of AI 'actors', and mega corporations like Coca Cola are already using the software to create its famous Christmas adverts, much to the anger of social media.
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One area where it's perhaps going under the radar though is within the music industry, as if you're a country fan there's a chance that you've been listening to songs recently that have been generated entirely using AI.
As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, country music 'artist' Breaking Rust has seemingly become the first AI 'musician' to top Billboard's charts, occupying the top spot in the company's Country Digital Song Sales charts.
Anyone that's familiar with how AI 'art' looks will almost immediately be able to tell that the so-called artist photo for Breaking Rust has been generated using the software, alongside the various single and EP covers that litter its Spotify page.
However, if you didn't know any better it would be hard to guess that the song itself that's topped the charts is AI generated, although its lyrics and general melody aren't exactly inspiring to say the least.
You can see why the average Spotify listener shuffling through a genre playlist wouldn't pay this any mind and might even return to it at a later date due to its easy listening nature, but it's certainly provided a shock that the industry might not be able to recover from in the long term.
Many across social media have certainly shown their opposition to the concept of AI music though, with one user on X remarking:
"I hate this so much. I cannot describe how much I hate it. If I could commit a genocide against AI, I would. AI 'art' is the death of the soul. Pure dystopian hell. Did I mention that I hate this?"
Others certainly seem to agree in the comments underneath the video for 'Walk My Walk' on YouTube, with many joking about the lack of any human presence behind the song.
"He must smoke a lot of digital cigarettes to get this voice sound," notes one in reference to the artificial grisliness in its voice, with another adding: "So much soul from something with no soul... Must have been hard to walk that walk with no legs."
Breaking Rust's popularity should be concerning though, especially as on Spotify alone it boasts over 2 million monthly listeners and several songs with over a million plays — including 3.7 million for 'Walk My Walk' and 4.7 million for 'Livin' on Borrowed Time'.
