Ridley Scott’s masterpiece Blade Runner featured a plot device called the Voight-Kampff test. It was a psychological test used to distinguish humans from replicants (bioengineered artificial humanoids).
The ability of and degree to which replicants were able to deceive this test was a core element of the narrative throughout.
Music streaming platforms might wish they had a Voight-Kampff test of their own right now as the surge in artificial intelligence (AI) artists trying to get on these platforms is increasing substantially.
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Deezer, a music streaming platform that is particularly strong in France, has noticed a surge in AI content trying to get on to its platform. Around 18 months ago, approximately 5 per cent of songs uploaded to Deezer, which has about 19 million users and is enormously popular in France, were AI-generated. Now, according to comments it made to the BBC, that is up to 34 per cent.
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Of the main streaming platforms, Deezer has taken a clear, hardline approach. It actively uses in-house tools to detect AI music, labels them as such, and removes them both from editorial playlists and algorithmic recommendations.
Spotify, which has more than 700 million active users, takes a lighter-touch approach. AI tracks are treated the same as human ones so long as they comply with platform rules. Where AI music has been targeted for removal or restriction by Spotify is around deepfakes or copyright intrusion.
Given the much larger scale of Spotify over any other music streaming service, distinguishing real art from AI creations is already challenging enough for the listener. Then along comes an artist like Sienna Rose.
Rose performs light and easy jazz and soul, sort of a livelier Norah Jones. On streaming, Rose has proven to be a hit, amassing three million listeners on Spotify. With 45 tracks uploaded since September, Rose has a substantial catalogue suited for a dull bus journey or relaxing after dinner.
The problem is that it’s not terribly clear if Rose really exists.
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Rose has made no public appearances, has performed no shows, has no social media presence, and no videos of performances. Rose would be far from the first artist to shy away from the spotlight and fuel interest through mystery, but they are the first where I’ve gone to pains to not describe with a pronoun in a column.
The speed of output is downright inhuman. Rose also had an Instagram account; it has since been deactivated, but was populated with stills that had the type of uncanny valley lighting found in AI-generated images.
Whether Rose is a clever recluse or a robot, the real problem is that it is becoming more difficult to tell.
Success in the arts was a matter of craft. Even bands that were manufactured can be highlighted in that regard. The Monkees would never have been confused with Mozart and they were made explicitly for a fictional TV show. Yet it was human endeavour that created them. People worked out who to hire to play the roles, songs were written and performed by people, and the fake band transcended the show to move from thespians into musicians. More importantly, the matter was transparent.
Think back to the Milli Vanilli scandal in 1990, when it was revealed the frontmen Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan were not singing the vocals. It was a global scandal in music, and resulted in their Grammy award for best new artist being rescinded.
We are now at a stage where it’s getting increasingly difficult to determine what art is original and what is AI. Considering creativity has been fundamental to human innovation, that is quite concerning as AI can only really reprocess what has already been created.
Blade Runner – based on Philip K Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – forecast this increasing difficulty all the way back in 1982.
AI-generated music is effectively getting success without the effort and work put in by real artists to develop something truly new. For platforms and publishers, this may hold some appeal but it could societally stunt the arts.
There is no level playing field in a fight between a human creator and a tool that doesn’t require the same commitment of time, effort and thought to make art. The tool can simply absorb from the art already out there and rehash at will.
That’s what makes the Sienna Rose situation so unsettling. Real or not, the ambiguity around the authenticity of music that is garnering millions of listens should be a worry for us all.
