Peter Hook: “Every AI song that has ever been written is shit”

nme.com:

Peter Hook has taken aim at songs written with the help of AI, saying that each one created has always been “shit”.The former New Order and Joy Division bassist weighed in on the ongoing debate around the use of artificial intelligence to help create music during an appearance on the XS Noize podcast, stating that he is firmly against using the technology to create art.When posed the question, Hook went on to compare the output to that of the music from icons like David Bowie, and imply it is insulting to those who honed in on their craft for years.“When you look at someone as good as David Bowie at writing songs and marvel. ‘Drive-in Saturday’, ‘The Prettiest Star’.

The guy was a genius,” he explained. “Songwriting is an art you cannot teach. AI is proof… Every AI song that has ever been written is shit.“They’re crap because there’s something intangible that human beings have that a song captures.”The 68-year-old – who now acts as frontman for his band Peter Hook And The Light – is one of the countless artists who have used their platform to speak out against the rise of AI in songwriting in recent years, including Brian May, Ed Sheeran and John Lydon.One of the most prolific instances of an artist speaking out, however, came from Bad Seeds frontman Nick Cave, who described the concept as “a grotesque mockery of what it is to be human”.

He later added that he wanted AI platforms like ChatGPT to “fuck off and leave songwriting alone”.Similarly, Guns N’ Roses members Slash and Duff McKagan also weighed in on the debate, with the former saying that the use of the technology “does not really thrill me” and the latter telling NME last year that he had no plans to let AI “affect my creativity”.Former Oasis members also spoke.