CTP (S3E144) AI Music And The Missing Soul

CTP (S3E144) AI Music And The Missing Soul
Exploring more of the fascinating intersection of Activism, Community Engagement, Faith / Religion, Human Nature, Politics, Social Issues, and beyond   
A planned conversation about AI music turns into a behind-the-scenes solo take when my guest does not show, and I use the moment to think out loud about what AI can copy and what it cannot. I dig into AI-generated songs on YouTube, the coming pressure on musicians, and why I still believe real life experience matters in art. 
• Gary not showing up and why I record anyway 
• AI-generated music and fake duets online 
• How cloned voices and “mashups” spread on YouTube 
• My own history with writing and recording music 
• Looker and Simone as warnings about synthetic performers 
• Using AI to produce songs versus creating as a human 
• Why AI can mimic emotion but not truly have it 
• Fear of AI taking over parts of the music industry 
• Request for listener feedback and mini sessions 
https://tinyurl.com/SubscribeToCTP  
CTP Audios: https://tinyurl.com/CTPonBuzzsprout 
CTP Videos: https://tinyurl.com/JLDonBITCHUTE 
https://tinyurl.com/CTPgear 

Transcript

Welcome And A Behind-The-Scenes Start

SPEAKER_01 0:08

Hello, welcome to another episode of Pristitutionalist Podcast. I am your host, Joseph M. Leonard. That's L-E-N-A-R-D. It looks French. It's not it's wonderful down and oh. Thank you for tuning in, as Bram Norton used to say on his show. Let's get on with the show. Hi gang! Today I am behind the scenes. I am recording today, Monday, February the 2nd, Groundhog Day. Yep. Real winter decided to show up this year, and yep, we're gonna have more of it. And last night was the Grammys. I didn't time it this way, but Gary, not gonna give us a last name, is a no-show for it's now five minutes after one in the afternoon Eastern time here in the Detroit area. Uh Gary was supposed to come on to talk AI music. And he's now the third person who said, Oh, good topic. Let's talk the differences and comparisons between human-created music, and for those behind the scenes, I'm wearing my Rick Springfield shock denial anger acceptance shirt. Since talking music, I figured I'd have something of a musical theme on rather than my you know flag-inspired attire most times, or my Christitutionalist politics shirt. Anyway, where was I? Gary's a no-show, so I'm gonna record this anyway, since there were two others who said they were interested in talking about this topic, and then also begged out. So this won't be part of a music weeks, or at least I don't think. Please remember, check back. I've had plenty of singer-songwriters, musicians on the show. Uh, in my first year, second, and third year, I will be entering season four here soon. And I had music weeks, which was what March, three weeks in March of 2025. Please check that out. But more and more we're seeing AI-generated music. You may have seen them, right? So and so mash up with such and such, AI created as if this person singing a duet with that person, but no, that's not real. They're mimicking so-and-so's voice and such and such voice, and the music's fairly good. Uh, it's usually a dead giveaway because you don't see the artists that they're mimicking in the videos, you just see either still pictures or you see a cartoonish rendering of a music video, usually a big hell. But more and more AI music is invading YouTube, especially. It's all over the place. And in fact, my tinyurl.com slash carpe diem official playlist. I think I might even have a few AI created tunes in that official playlist. That's the official playlist for uh my life and living series of books, complicated life and living. This is a uh uh proof copy, so obviously. Anyway, complicated life and living is the latest in my life and living series, tinyurl.com slash life and living series, will take you to the Amazat page for that series of books. But indeed, music, I I wrote and recorded music when I was younger. My dad, Thaddeus M. Leonard, Ted Leonard Jr. and the Polka Kings. Yes, you can still find their three albums or eight track tapes out and about out there. Uh I unlike my dad, I never got a record deal, but music is in my blood. So I really wanted to talk about this. We hear about Chili Norwood, right? And I've talked, oh, there I said right again. Uh I give up trying to stop catching myself saying that. Now I should have grabbed, and in fact, I will hold on, don't go away. Okay, I will have cut out that part where I left from behind the uh camera to grab Looker, still in the plastic. I just recently finally got a DVD copy of Looker with Albert Finney, James Coburn, and Susan Day, yes, of the Partridge family, and Simone Sim One, if you prefer to pronounce it that way, with Al Pacino, Billy Norwood and AI taking over actor and actress roles. The AI can produce it. Both those movies are about that. I highly recommend seeing Looker First and then Simone or Simone uh to come up to speed. We knew this day was coming, but no one ever talked about AI replacing musicians, and that could be happening more and more now. Now, I myself haven't played with it'd be a chance for me to get back in music. I could write music and have the AI recorded for me. I my singing ability is long shot. I can't sing worth a darn anymore. I wouldn't even attempt to do karaoke anymore anymore. Uh, too many decades have gone by that my singing voice is a disaster. But I could write and have AI record a song. My first album was going to be uh but um fast uh I'm thinking, I'm thinking I would hard rock, fast cars, hot women, not necessarily in that order, was the loose working title. It would have a variety. I was hoping to do a cover of the New England song, if you're familiar with them, Don't Ever Wanna Lose You. It's a great song about uh someone who a man whose wife, fiance, significant other female, whatever, is out and driving home in a downpour, and he's worried about losing her. Well, I always thought that was a great song, and I was hoping I would be able to write a duet with like Joan Jett at the time and record a music video that would be a lead-in then to the cover version of Don't Ever Wanna Lose You, right? Setup a couple that has a bit of an argument, she leaves and she's out in a downpour, right? Leads into that song, tells a broader story. I could potentially do that now. Krady mock-up song of a duet between whomever I wanted and have it lead into that song, but I'm not gonna do that. I could do that and maybe you know get my musical aspiration side of me that never uh came to full fulfillment. I I do have some things written and record. Oh, excuse me. Uh I'm having a chocolate coke. For those of you who have never tried one. Yes, like a vanilla coke or a cherry coke. We used to get these at the dime store in downtown Windows all the time at the soda jerk counter there, right? Kent, if you're gonna do it, pour coke in your glass first, then Hershey syrup, and then carefully mix it. If you put in the syrup first and then quickly pour in your coke, you're gonna get like the child volcano experiment, you know, the baking soda volcano, you're gonna get foam all over the place. But at any rate, I do have music around here that I've recorded. I've never digitized it, so I'm not gonna present any of it or play any of it as part of this episode. So I could through AI start up a music career again, I guess. But the point of this episode with others was supposed to be they were supposed to record an AI song so that we could compare what AI creates versus what they as a human create. If you recall, I had on Alison McBain talking about the AI writing experiment and experience. She had AI write a couple books and she wrote a couple of books. In fact, I think she did a challenge where she was going to write X number of books in an X number of days and see if pushing the limits of human creativity and ability to write obviously would never be able to keep up with AI that's awake 24 hours a day and can pour books out if we wanted them to dozens, hundreds, potentially a thousand a day for days on weeks and months and years on end, burying regular authors like me, putting us in the dust, uh, putting us asunder. Uh well, that makes me think a dream theater song pull me under now. Uh, but anyway, that's it. I was hoping to have someone who had their own music and something from AI so we could compare, like Allison McBain did, to compare books writing. AI is probably gonna get better, but for now it can mimic personality, but it doesn't have one. It lacks human emotion, it can try and mimic it and try to understand our psychology to a degree. But the music, like the books, in my opinion, at least for now, lacks something because indeed it isn't alive, it doesn't have a soul, it's missing that spirit, it's missing the actual life experiences that are being poured out in the song. Write me a breakup song, okay. It could do that in theory, but based on other breakup songs or or trauma and relationship issues in books kind of like complicated, uh, and all my others in the life and living series of books, but it doesn't know, it's not sentient, it may soon think it is. I wanted to have that comparison, but it seems I can't get anyone on to talk. I don't know if it's out of fear. People fear that indeed the AI is gonna take over the music industry or what. No one wants to talk about it. So I just thought I'd do this record since I'm supposed to be recording now with Gary and am not. So anyway, thank you all for oh, oh, oh, I don't want you to go yet. I main reason I decided to still record this is for listener feedback from time to time. If you're a regular or even semi-regular listener or viewer on the five video channels or listener across the 25 plus audio uh platforms, this show is carried on. I do listener feedback. I would love for some of you to reach out to me at josephmleonard.us slash contact. And again, if you see on the screen there, Leonard without an O, L E N A-R-D, Joseph M L E N A R D dot U Slash Contact, reach out to me. I'd like to record a few mini sessions with various listeners or viewers and get your input as listener feedback, your thoughts on AI taking over music, AI and a Tilly Norwood in the lines of Looker and Simone taking over the role of movies, so that no, you whiny multimillion dollar pain in everyone's ass. We don't have to put up with you. We could just have AI fulfill your role. What are your thoughts on this? Whether you want to come on there or if you just want to send me comments that I could potentially read, please do so. Joseph M Leonard.us slash contact. I was gonna screw it up. And again, for music, the life and living series of books has an official soundtrack, an official playlist, tinyurl.com slash carpe dm official playlist. Hope you'll check that out. And again, I'm pretty sure there's a couple of AI-generated songs in that playlist. Shout out to Allison McBain again. Oh I'll be notifying her. Her name is dropped in this episode. Thank you all, as well as Mickey Mickelson, who represents Allison. Uh he's a publicist uh for her and others up in Canada. Anyway, thank you all. Take care. God bless, love you all. Really, truly, genuinely. I want to hear back from you all. Joseph M Leonard.us slash contact. Take care.

Closing Thanks And Subscribe Request

SPEAKER_00 16:16

Joseph Leonard Stand up for waterflash. Every day and night. Please freedom of making a choice for his message over all the earth. Sound strong and God.

SPEAKER_02 16:49

Like and subscribe to Christitutionalist Politics Podcast and share episodes. We need your help.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

Thank you for having tuned into another Christitutionalist podcast show. I really appreciate that you stop by. Again, please like, share, subscribe. We need you to help spread the constitutionalist movement. Thank you again. Take care. God bless. Love you all.