If you’re pro-human, join Paul Kingsnorth’s campaign.

The brilliant English writer Paul Kingsnorth recently launched a campaign for everyone who loves humans and human creativity. So if you also miss the good ol’ days when you could read, listen or watch something and know that a human made it, then please join this campaign. And please do it today. This is urgent!

Due to generative-AI, humanity is at a vital fork in the road. In all honesty, I think it’s probably too late to save human-made art, but if we don’t try, we’ll never know (and we'll always regret not trying, too!). And if you’re a Gen Xer like me, or a Boomer, then we seriously owe it to the kids, because we know how life-changing real music was to our childhood development.

The term “life-changing” is thrown around a lot nowadays, but music literally changed our lives when we were growing up in the ‘70s, ‘80s and early ‘90s. It’s heartbreaking to think that kids are no longer experiencing that deep and profound meaning that music gave to our lives. Those bands that we lived for (and couldn’t stop thinking about) not only made us who we are, but they helped us to cope with a screwed-up world that just keeps getting more screwed up!

This is why we owe it to the kids to try our best to wake people up to the consequences of generative-AI. And that process begins by having conversations like this with our friends and family. On that note, please share this post with any open-minded person willing to listen.

Subscribe to get the latest posts in your inbox.

Here’s an example of the reality we’re living in with AI. So the other day I was listening to the new album by Icelandic singer-songwriter Ásgeir. It’s breathtakingly beautiful. But while I was halfway through the title-track “Julia”, a thought popped into my head: “He could’ve used AI to write this!” I really hope he didn’t, but we’ll never know.

And that’s what most non-musicians still don’t seem to understand about generative-AI. It’s ubiquitous. It’s being used in most new songs. In fact, when asked off-the-record, a shocking number of professional songwriters and producers admit to using generative-AI when making music. This has been confirmed by well-connected industry insiders like journalist Kristin Robinson, who’s a Senior Correspondent for Billboard, and writes their “Machine Learnings” newsletter that covers the rapid impact of AI and other emerging tech on the music industry.

And just a quick sidenote. If you wanna learn my fast, easy and fun method for making music, then visit my website. From beginner to advanced, there’s something for you there. And most of them are free, so enjoy!

If you’re a beginner, start by reading my free book 12 Music Theory Hacks to Learn Scales & Chords. It only takes about half an hour to read, then you’ll have a solid foundation of the basics. If you’re already making music, though, you can work your way through my 30 free PDF tutorials. They’re step-by-step musical “recipes” that you follow to instantly make better music. All genres are there, too. Electronic to hip-hop, classical to metal, and everything in between. Have fun cookin’ up some new tunes!

Then on top of the free book, 30 free PDFs, and over 220 free YouTube tutorials, I don’t paywall any of these posts either, as I don’t want to exclude anyone. But, if you’re enjoying all my free offerings and want me to make more, please support my work by becoming a paid subscriber. It’s only about the cost of one coffee per month, but if enough people join, then I can pay the rent and keep doing this work. To sign up, please visit HackMusicTheory.com/Join.

If you can’t afford to at the moment, though, no problem. You can give Hack Music Theory a 5-star rating in your podcast app, that supports my work too. Either way, thank you so much, and let’s get back to the topic at hand…

Subscribe to get the latest posts in your inbox.

So, even old-school garage bands that record directly to vinyl could still be using generative-AI in the writing process. Most of the band members would not even know. This disturbing fact is what we need to help people understand.

You see, every time I speak out against AI, people leave comments saying that they’re not fooled by AI-generated songs and that they can tell the difference. For now, let’s forget about Deezer’s recent survey that found 97% of people can’t tell the difference between fully AI-generated songs and human-made songs. So putting that data to the side for now, here’s the bigger problem, and I’ll illustrate it with an example.

When the new Foo Fighters album “Your Favorite Toy” is released in a few weeks, how will we know that Dave Grohl didn’t use generative-AI in the writing process? We can’t. That’s the short answer. Because, he could easily have used AI secretly at home while writing the songs. The other band members wouldn’t even know.

From what I’ve read it sounds like the album was recorded in Dave’s usual old-school way, and with his preference of analogue gear. That’s all great, but the fact remains. He could have used generative-AI to help him write the songs. I really hope he didn’t, but we’ll never know. That’s the problem. That’s what we need to help non-musicians understand.

Subscribe to get the latest posts in your inbox.

So when people say that they can tell the difference between AI-generated songs and human-made songs, they’re just uneducated on the way that generative-AI can be used in the writing process. This is our reality. Right now. And it’s been like this for the last couple years.

To be clear. There’s literally no way that anyone can know if a new song was written by a human, by AI, or by a combination of the two.

If we want to be guaranteed that the music we’re listening to is 100% human-made, then our only option is to stick with old recordings. I recommend albums from before 1997, because that way you also avoid Auto-Tuned vocals. Yes, the transhuman music agenda has been underway for decades! If you want a short history of this, check out my previous post, titled: AI Human vs Human AI.

Now, back to Paul Kingsnorth’s vital new campaign: Writers Against AI. The first thing to know is that it’s actually for writers and readers. So even if you’re not currently writing anything, you can join as a reader. Having said that, though, I definitely encourage you to start a daily writing practice, but that’s a topic for another post. For now, all you have to do is make three pledges and you’re in. Here they are, in Paul’s words:

“To support the campaign, a writer must make three pledges:

The first of these points draws a line for our own creative work. We say, as storytellers: we will remain human. With the second, we refuse to lend our voices or our money to anyone who uses this technology to replace human creativity. Finally, we commit to doing something positive: supporting, financially and morally, other creators who are drawing the line too, and refusing to be dehumanised. If you are a writer who agrees with these pledges and who wants to sign up to this campaign - well, that agreement is all it takes.”

Subscribe to get the latest posts in your inbox.

So if you’re feeling inspired to get involved, head on over to WritersAgainstAI.net today and download the logo, then use it on your website and social media to let your audience know that your creations are 100% human-made. And if you’re a reader, you can download a “Readers Against AI” logo and post that on your social media and anywhere else that you can. Let the world know that you’re pro-human, and that you support human creativity! And please, do this today. Time is of the essence.

A heartfelt thank-you for reading/listening, and welcome aboard the Songwriter’s Ark, where all the music making skills are being preserved through this global AI flood. The flood shall pass. The skills will last.

Ray Harmony :)

Help keep the Songwriter's Ark afloat.

Photo by Mart Production

Ray Harmony is a multi award-winning music lecturer, who’s made music with Serj Tankian (System Of A Down), Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine), Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree), Devin Townsend (Strapping Young Lad), Ihsahn (Emperor), Kool Keith (Ultramagnetic MCs), Madchild (Swollen Members), and more.

Ray is also the founder of Hack Music Theory, a YouTube channel with over 10 million views and over 250,000 subscribers learning the fast, easy and fun way to make music without using AI, cos it ain’t no fun getting a robot to write “your” songs!

Photo by cottonbro studio

Outro music by Ray Harmony, based on the music theory from GoGo Penguin "Everything Is Going to Be OK".

Listen below, or on any podcast app.