The JUNO Awards reveal their stance on AI music
After the Grammy people kinda bobbled things over allowing AI-generated songs to be considered for an award–they since clarified that–the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Science, the folks who look after the JUNOS have come up with their policy on the matter ahead of the opening of nominations on Monday. It’s quite similar to what the Grammys now say.
Deepfake songs such as the one we saw from YouTuber Ghostwriter who mashed up AI voices of Drake and The Weeknd, will not be considered for nomination. That’s the proper call. As CARAS head Alan Reid says “It’s ‘Drake and the Weeknd’ but it’s not them. That is not their voices; those are AI-generated voices.” Besides, the creator of that deepfake isn’t Canadian, so it wouldn’t be eligible, anyway.
To be more specific, CARAS says that recordings that use AI can be eligible but AI can’t be the “sole or core component of the song/album.”
Reid also said “We want to make sure that we have humans being recognized. We can’t be awarding an AI project a JUNO.” If there’s any question about a song using too much AI, it will be reviewed by a committee.
As with everyone in the recorded music industry, CARAS is in learning mode when it comes to AI. These new rules are just basic guidelines which will no doubt evolve over time.
I don’t understand the confusion over awarding AI for the art it creates. When have humans ever given recognition to the machines for their achievements. No one has ever given an assembly line unit a salary for the work it does 24 hours a day. That would defeat their entire purpose. Neither are they eligible for Employment Insurance, Welfare nor any Social Services.
Yet some of you wish to dig humanity’s grave while putting AI on a pedestal. For what? To give a machine a sense of accomplishment and safeguard it’s sanity? That’s insane.