Martin Clancy was quoted in the Los Angeles Times discussing how this new wave of AI tools is different from those that came before in music.
From the advent of vinyl records to samplers and 808s, from studio software like ProTools to media platforms like iTunes and Spotify, technology has always shaped and reshaped how music is created and consumed. AI is already present in many of the ways we interface with music, from recommendation algorithms to production tools like voice modulators.
– August Brown, LA Times
Martin Clancy, a researcher at the Centre for Digital Humanities at Trinity College in Dublin and editor of “Artificial Intelligence and Music Ecosystem,” said that the difference between this wave of AI and prior transformative tech is its sheer adoptive speed.
“There used to be a time lag between the invention and social adoption of tech. How long was it from the turntable being invented to DJ Kool Herc? A hundred years,” he said. “It took 30 years for samplers to become affordable consumer items. AI is different because of the scale. The cost is cheap, so money is being poured in, and all the tech is stacking on top of itself. We’re not only getting unintended consequences but unintended designs.”