{"id":848,"date":"2026-02-24T23:23:42","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T23:23:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitalspace.bradfordcollege.ac.uk\/12984714\/?page_id=848"},"modified":"2026-06-02T10:59:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T09:59:37","slug":"final-podcast","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/digitalspace.bradfordcollege.ac.uk\/12984714\/final-podcast\/","title":{"rendered":"Final Podcast"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"podcast\" width=\"580\" height=\"326\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7QgkSqAnWOY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Artificial&nbsp;intelligence&nbsp;didn\u2019t&nbsp;start&nbsp;with&nbsp;apps&nbsp;or&nbsp;smart&nbsp;speakers.&nbsp;It&nbsp;began&nbsp;as&nbsp;an&nbsp;idea.&nbsp;Something&nbsp;theoretical.&nbsp;Early&nbsp;researchers&nbsp;sketched&nbsp;it&nbsp;out&nbsp;as&nbsp;lines&nbsp;of&nbsp;code&nbsp;on&nbsp;paper,&nbsp;trying&nbsp;to&nbsp;show&nbsp;how&nbsp;a&nbsp;machine&nbsp;might \u201cthink\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The&nbsp;term&nbsp;&#8216;artificial intelligence&#8217; itself was&nbsp;first&nbsp;used&nbsp;in 1955&nbsp;by&nbsp;John McCarthy.&nbsp;Who&nbsp;described&nbsp;it&nbsp;simply&nbsp;as&nbsp;the&nbsp;science&nbsp;and&nbsp;engineering&nbsp;of&nbsp;making&nbsp;intelligent&nbsp;machines.&nbsp;That&nbsp;one&nbsp;definition&nbsp;helped&nbsp;shape&nbsp;everything&nbsp;from&nbsp;today\u2019s&nbsp;digital&nbsp;assistants&nbsp;to&nbsp;the&nbsp;algorithms&nbsp;quietly&nbsp;running&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;background&nbsp;of&nbsp;our&nbsp;lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McCarthy&nbsp;believed&nbsp;machines&nbsp;could&nbsp;eventually&nbsp;think&nbsp;like&nbsp;humans,&nbsp;meaning they don&#8217;t just calculate but they reason.&nbsp;His&nbsp;focus&nbsp;was&nbsp;something&nbsp;he&nbsp;called \u201ccommon-sense&nbsp;reasoning\u201d, the&nbsp;kind&nbsp;of&nbsp;everyday&nbsp;logic&nbsp;people&nbsp;use&nbsp;without&nbsp;even&nbsp;noticing through pattern recognition.&nbsp;If&nbsp;a&nbsp;machine&nbsp;could&nbsp;store&nbsp;enough&nbsp;information&nbsp;and&nbsp;process&nbsp;it&nbsp;properly,&nbsp;he&nbsp;argued&nbsp;it&nbsp;could&nbsp;produce&nbsp;results&nbsp;that&nbsp;actually&nbsp;make&nbsp;sense&nbsp;to&nbsp;us.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AI&nbsp;was&nbsp;also developing&nbsp;alongside&nbsp;cybernetics.&nbsp;This&nbsp;field&nbsp;looked&nbsp;at&nbsp;how&nbsp;biological and mechanical systems communicate&nbsp;and&nbsp;respond&nbsp;to&nbsp;feedback. &nbsp;AI&nbsp;eventually&nbsp;grew&nbsp;out&nbsp;of&nbsp;this&nbsp;space,&nbsp;especially&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;way&nbsp;it&nbsp;learns&nbsp;from&nbsp;data&nbsp;and&nbsp;adjusts&nbsp;its&nbsp;behaviour.&nbsp;Those&nbsp;early&nbsp;ideas&nbsp;still&nbsp;show&nbsp;through&nbsp;modern&nbsp;systems&nbsp;today.&nbsp;Even&nbsp;in&nbsp;something&nbsp;as&nbsp;creative&nbsp;as&nbsp;music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>How&nbsp;is&nbsp;AI&nbsp;used&nbsp;in&nbsp;music&nbsp;today?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">in the modern day you&#8217;ll find AI everywhere in music even the parts you&#8217;d never expect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;most&nbsp;well known&nbsp;uses&nbsp;is&nbsp;generative&nbsp;composition.&nbsp;Platforms&nbsp;like&nbsp;AIVA,&nbsp;Amper Music,&nbsp;and&nbsp;Soundraw&nbsp;let&nbsp;users&nbsp;create&nbsp;full&nbsp;songs&nbsp;in&nbsp;minutes.&nbsp;If you&nbsp;pick&nbsp;the mood,&nbsp;tempo, and&nbsp;style,&nbsp;The&nbsp;system&nbsp;does&nbsp;the&nbsp;rest.&nbsp;Its quick efficient and flexible witch is what makes it popular in arias such as advertising, gaming and other online content. &nbsp;Critics&nbsp;argue&nbsp;that&nbsp;while&nbsp;AI&nbsp;can&nbsp;produce&nbsp;music&nbsp;fast,&nbsp;it&nbsp;often&nbsp;lacks&nbsp;depth that only a human could add like the emotion and human edge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AI&nbsp;isn\u2019t&nbsp;just&nbsp;replacing&nbsp;tasks, it\u2019s&nbsp;also&nbsp;assisting&nbsp;them.&nbsp;Tools&nbsp;like&nbsp;LANDR&nbsp;and&nbsp;iZotope&nbsp;help&nbsp;with&nbsp;mixing&nbsp;and&nbsp;mastering.&nbsp;They&nbsp;analyse&nbsp;huge amounts of data&nbsp;from&nbsp;professional&nbsp;tracks&nbsp;and&nbsp;make&nbsp;decisions&nbsp;on&nbsp;things&nbsp;like&nbsp;EQ,&nbsp;compression,&nbsp;and&nbsp;loudness.&nbsp;For&nbsp;independent&nbsp;artists,&nbsp;that\u2019s&nbsp;a&nbsp;big&nbsp;win because&nbsp;it&nbsp;lowers&nbsp;the&nbsp;barrier&nbsp;to&nbsp;entry. However,&nbsp;there is&nbsp;a&nbsp;downside.&nbsp;when everyone is using the same AI systems which uses the same data,&nbsp;music&nbsp;can&nbsp;start&nbsp;to&nbsp;sound similar&nbsp;and&nbsp;predictable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then&nbsp;there\u2019s&nbsp;AI&nbsp;voice&nbsp;synthesis.&nbsp;New&nbsp;systems&nbsp;can&nbsp;replicate&nbsp;human&nbsp;voices&nbsp;with&nbsp;impressive&nbsp;accuracy.&nbsp;Grimes&nbsp;has&nbsp;taken&nbsp;a&nbsp;different&nbsp;approach,&nbsp;openly&nbsp;allowing&nbsp;people&nbsp;to&nbsp;use&nbsp;AI&nbsp;versions&nbsp;of&nbsp;her&nbsp;voice, as&nbsp;long&nbsp;as&nbsp;she&nbsp;gets&nbsp;a&nbsp;share&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;revenue.&nbsp;She&nbsp;sees&nbsp;it&nbsp;as&nbsp;a&nbsp;way&nbsp;to&nbsp;open&nbsp;up&nbsp;creativity&nbsp;and&nbsp;rethink&nbsp;ownership. Many&nbsp;strongly&nbsp;disagree.&nbsp;In 2023,&nbsp;AI-generated&nbsp;songs&nbsp;mimicking&nbsp;Drake&nbsp;and&nbsp;The Weeknd&nbsp;went&nbsp;viral&nbsp;before&nbsp;being&nbsp;taken&nbsp;down after only hours. Many&nbsp;artists had&nbsp;serious&nbsp;questions&nbsp;about&nbsp;consent,&nbsp;identity,&nbsp;and&nbsp;control following this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AI&nbsp;shapes&nbsp;how&nbsp;we&nbsp;discover&nbsp;and listen to music&nbsp;too.&nbsp;Platforms&nbsp;like&nbsp;Spotify&nbsp;and&nbsp;Apple Music&nbsp;rely&nbsp;heavily&nbsp;on&nbsp;algorithms&nbsp;to&nbsp;recommend&nbsp;songs like the Spotify DJ feature.&nbsp;Many listeners like these features because it helps them find new artists easier. But some&nbsp;artists&nbsp;are&nbsp;starting&nbsp;to&nbsp;think&nbsp;about&nbsp;the&nbsp;algorithm&nbsp;when&nbsp;they&nbsp;create new music, which leads to shorter&nbsp;intros,&nbsp;Frequent&nbsp;releases, and&nbsp;Consistency&nbsp;over&nbsp;experimentation.&nbsp;This means that the system doesn&#8217;t just recommend music but influences it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">in the industry AI is often used as a tool, something  to be used and not feared.&nbsp;but the catch is that without&nbsp;proper&nbsp;regulation,&nbsp;artists&nbsp;risk&nbsp;losing&nbsp;control&nbsp;over&nbsp;every aspect of their&nbsp;work (how&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;used,&nbsp;how&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;shared,&nbsp;and&nbsp;how&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;monetised). At the time of writing&nbsp;AI&nbsp;in&nbsp;music&nbsp;sits&nbsp;in&nbsp;a&nbsp;grey&nbsp;area.&nbsp;It can open doors for musicians without a very high budget and make the process a lot easier but in the process it also uses other songs to collect this data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The&nbsp;future&nbsp;of&nbsp;AI&nbsp;in&nbsp;music<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AI isn&#8217;t going anywhere for now, if anything its more likely to just get more embedded. So the real question is if AI does continue to shape music at this rate will the power be in humans hand or the computer programs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One&nbsp;possible&nbsp;future&nbsp;is&nbsp;collaboration.&nbsp;AI working alongside&nbsp;humans, Acting&nbsp;as&nbsp;a&nbsp;tool&nbsp;for&nbsp;experimentation.&nbsp;This would be a good&nbsp;way&nbsp;to&nbsp;explore&nbsp;new&nbsp;sounds&nbsp;and&nbsp;ideas&nbsp;faster&nbsp;than&nbsp;ever&nbsp;before.&nbsp;In&nbsp;this&nbsp;scenario&nbsp;humans&nbsp;stay&nbsp;in&nbsp;control with&nbsp;AI&nbsp;just&nbsp;expanding&nbsp;possibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Training&nbsp;AI&nbsp;on&nbsp;copyrighted&nbsp;material&nbsp;without&nbsp;permission&nbsp;is&nbsp;already&nbsp;a&nbsp;major&nbsp;issue.&nbsp;If&nbsp;it&nbsp;continues,&nbsp;it&nbsp;could&nbsp;seriously&nbsp;damage&nbsp;the&nbsp;livelihoods&nbsp;of&nbsp;artists, expessualy those&nbsp;just&nbsp;starting&nbsp;out.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There\u2019s&nbsp;also&nbsp;the&nbsp;question&nbsp;of&nbsp;skill erosion. With AI doing more there won&#8217;t be any point in people learning the skills&nbsp;that&nbsp;could&nbsp;lead&nbsp;to&nbsp;a&nbsp;decline&nbsp;in&nbsp;both&nbsp;technical&nbsp;ability&nbsp;and&nbsp;musical&nbsp;understanding.&nbsp;Technology&nbsp;has&nbsp;always&nbsp;shaped&nbsp;music but this feels different because of the possibility&#8217;s and power its already showing <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At&nbsp;the&nbsp;same&nbsp;time,&nbsp;AI&nbsp;makes&nbsp;music&nbsp;more&nbsp;accessible.&nbsp;People&nbsp;without&nbsp;formal&nbsp;training&nbsp;can&nbsp;now&nbsp;create&nbsp;full&nbsp;compositions. This&nbsp;raises&nbsp;the question what matters more? skill or intent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Personally,&nbsp;as&nbsp;a&nbsp;musician and someone who&#8217;s going on to study music production,&nbsp;I&nbsp;think&nbsp;AI&nbsp;can&nbsp;be&nbsp;a&nbsp;positive&nbsp;thing.&nbsp;But&nbsp;only&nbsp;if&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;handled&nbsp;properly.&nbsp;The&nbsp;problem&nbsp;isn\u2019t&nbsp;the&nbsp;technology&nbsp;itself but who controls and benefits from it. If&nbsp;it&#8217;s re-built&nbsp;on&nbsp;consent,&nbsp;fairness,&nbsp;and&nbsp;transparency,&nbsp;it&nbsp;could&nbsp;become&nbsp;a&nbsp;genuinely&nbsp;valuable&nbsp;tool that supports creativity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because&nbsp;at&nbsp;the&nbsp;end&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;day,&nbsp;music&nbsp;should be human.&nbsp;It\u2019s&nbsp;emotional.&nbsp;It\u2019s&nbsp;expressive witch ai should not take away from <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Artificial&nbsp;intelligence&nbsp;didn\u2019t&nbsp;start&nbsp;with&nbsp;apps&nbsp;or&nbsp;smart&nbsp;speakers.&nbsp;It&nbsp;began&nbsp;as&nbsp;an&nbsp;idea.&nbsp;Something&nbsp;theoretical.&nbsp;Early&nbsp;researchers&nbsp;sketched&nbsp;it&nbsp;out&nbsp;as&nbsp;lines&nbsp;of&nbsp;code&nbsp;on&nbsp;paper,&nbsp;trying&nbsp;to&nbsp;show&nbsp;how&nbsp;a&nbsp;machine&nbsp;might \u201cthink\u201d. The&nbsp;term&nbsp;&#8216;artificial intelligence&#8217; itself was&nbsp;first&nbsp;used&nbsp;in 1955&nbsp;by&nbsp;John McCarthy.&nbsp;Who&nbsp;described&nbsp;it&nbsp;simply&nbsp;as&nbsp;the&nbsp;science&nbsp;and&nbsp;engineering&nbsp;of&nbsp;making&nbsp;intelligent&nbsp;machines.&nbsp;That&nbsp;one&nbsp;definition&nbsp;helped&nbsp;shape&nbsp;everything&nbsp;from&nbsp;today\u2019s&nbsp;digital&nbsp;assistants&nbsp;to&nbsp;the&nbsp;algorithms&nbsp;quietly&nbsp;running&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;background&nbsp;of&nbsp;our&nbsp;lives. McCarthy&nbsp;believed&nbsp;machines&nbsp;could&nbsp;eventually&nbsp;think&nbsp;like&nbsp;humans,&nbsp;meaning they don&#8217;t just calculate but they reason.&nbsp;His&nbsp;focus&nbsp;was&nbsp;something&nbsp;he&nbsp;called \u201ccommon-sense&nbsp;reasoning\u201d, the&nbsp;kind&nbsp;of&nbsp;everyday&nbsp;logic&nbsp;people&nbsp;use&nbsp;without&nbsp;even&nbsp;noticing through pattern recognition.&nbsp;If&nbsp;a&nbsp;machine&nbsp;could&nbsp;store&nbsp;enough&nbsp;information&nbsp;and&nbsp;process&nbsp;it&nbsp;properly,&nbsp;he&nbsp;argued&nbsp;it&nbsp;could&nbsp;produce&nbsp;results&nbsp;that&nbsp;actually&nbsp;make&nbsp;sense&nbsp;to&nbsp;us.&nbsp; AI&nbsp;was&nbsp;also developing&nbsp;alongside&nbsp;cybernetics.&nbsp;This&nbsp;field&nbsp;looked&nbsp;at&nbsp;how&nbsp;biological and mechanical systems communicate&nbsp;and&nbsp;respond&nbsp;to&nbsp;feedback. &nbsp;AI&nbsp;eventually&nbsp;grew&nbsp;out&nbsp;of&nbsp;this&nbsp;space,&nbsp;especially&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;way&nbsp;it&nbsp;learns&nbsp;from&nbsp;data&nbsp;and&nbsp;adjusts&nbsp;its&nbsp;behaviour.&nbsp;Those&nbsp;early&nbsp;ideas&nbsp;still&nbsp;show&nbsp;through&nbsp;modern&nbsp;systems&nbsp;today.&nbsp;Even&nbsp;in&nbsp;something&nbsp;as&nbsp;creative&nbsp;as&nbsp;music. How&nbsp;is&nbsp;AI&nbsp;used&nbsp;in&nbsp;music&nbsp;today? in the modern day you&#8217;ll find AI everywhere in music even the parts you&#8217;d never expect. One&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;most&nbsp;well known&nbsp;uses&nbsp;is&nbsp;generative&nbsp;composition.&nbsp;Platforms&nbsp;like&nbsp;AIVA,&nbsp;Amper Music,&nbsp;and&nbsp;Soundraw&nbsp;let&nbsp;users&nbsp;create&nbsp;full&nbsp;songs&nbsp;in&nbsp;minutes.&nbsp;If you&nbsp;pick&nbsp;the mood,&nbsp;tempo, and&nbsp;style,&nbsp;The&nbsp;system&nbsp;does&nbsp;the&nbsp;rest.&nbsp;Its quick efficient and flexible [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":935,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-848","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalspace.bradfordcollege.ac.uk\/12984714\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalspace.bradfordcollege.ac.uk\/12984714\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalspace.bradfordcollege.ac.uk\/12984714\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalspace.bradfordcollege.ac.uk\/12984714\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/935"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalspace.bradfordcollege.ac.uk\/12984714\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=848"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/digitalspace.bradfordcollege.ac.uk\/12984714\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1562,"href":"https:\/\/digitalspace.bradfordcollege.ac.uk\/12984714\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/848\/revisions\/1562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalspace.bradfordcollege.ac.uk\/12984714\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}