In a new interview with the Thunder Underground podcast, Stryper’s Michael Sweet shared his thoughts on artificial intelligence and rejected being called old school for his views about it.
“The human touch is fading, and that’s very concerning. That is not good for music or art in general,” the singer explained. “When you just type in a few words and say, ‘Show me this,’ ‘Give me this,’ ‘Create this,’ and then — boom — in two seconds you’ve got it. Uh-uh. That’s where we’re at.”
“I think we’re at a point now where you don’t know what’s real and what’s not, what’s human and what’s A.I.? You don’t know; we won’t know. Music is changed forever,” he continued. “And then people call you old for thinking that way. ‘Oh, man, you need to get with the times. You’re old school. You’re an old fart. Come on, man.’ It’s, like, really? Okay. If other people don’t care about that, wow.”
Sweet added: “Music, art, it should be created by humans from the heart, not a computer. And I think just so many people are going down that road. And it’s gonna be interesting to see where we’re at in 10 years with music and the arts and film and all that stuff, man. It’s mind-boggling. I don’t think it’s a good thing.”
Many other rockers have shared their thoughts about using AI in not just the music industry but in daily life too. While many think it would be unethical to use AI to make music, producer and YouTuber Rick Beato has a different point of view. “If you want to sound like computers, it’s easier for computers to computers to sound like computers than it is for people to sound like computers,” he explained in his YouTube video titled ‘I Told You This Was Going To Happen.’
He added: “They’ll just bypass the people, and the companies that make this stuff will make all the money. Because people will listen to this.”
Stryper’s 40th-anniversary tour began on September 11 in Greenville, Tennessee, and will end on November 16 in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The tour features classic hits and new fan favorites, along with outfit changes and a fresh show production. Most cities will host a two-set ‘evening with’ style performance.