The most insulting thing about the success of Breaking Rust, an artificial intelligence “artist” who finished off This week's Billboard country digital song sales chart are the hits titles.
“Walk my way.”
“Living on borrowed time.”
The EP, which is also on the charts, is called “Resilient,” as if Breaking Rust spent years searching for tips in empty bars. And maybe Aubierre Rivaldo Taylor, who is credited with writing the songs, did. But the bluesy voice we heard singing about pain and suffering didn't overcome anything.
In fact, you could say that this completely computer-generated country singer achieved chart success by making fun of people. A year ago, a handful of loud industry people in Nashville questioned whether Beyoncé, who was born and raised in Texas, was country enough to make a country album. Good times. Today, AI-generated “executors” such as Breaking Rust and Xania Monetthat made it to Billboard's R&B charts, suggest that you don't even have to be human to fit into those genres.
Eric Church, whose latest release, “Evangeline vs. the Machine,” was nominated this month in the best contemporary country album category at the Grammys, told me he’s not too worried because fans still want to see live shows and “the AI algorithm won’t be able to get on stage and play.” He says the best thing the industry can do is establish AI-based music as its own genre and that awards shows should establish a separate category.
“I think it's a fad,” he said, adding that he finds it funny. “When people like a song or connect with an artist, the best thing for them is to experience that artist with people who also like that artist, that's the ultimate reward. You won't be able to do that with AI.”
Church concludes his tour Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood. In addition to promoting the new album, this year his foundation began providing housing for victims of Hurricane Helene with funds from a benefit concert. The North Carolina native also released a single to raise funds to help his neighbors. You know, things that only a real artist can do. Regarding Breaking Rust, he said: “The best thing we should do is make the general public aware that this is AI because… I don't think they know.”
“The biggest problem is the ability to fool or manipulate people because it looks real, it sounds real, it's pretty fake if you don't say it,” Church told me. “I've seen things of mine that are online… They take my face and put it on another body… My mom sent me one and I was like, 'Mom, that's not me.'
“That's where it gets dangerous and that's where it's scary.”
If AI-generated “musicians” like Breaking Rust are a fad, as Church suggests, it's a fad 50 years in the making. While the use of the larynx in recordings dates back to the 1960s, it was the 1975 recording of Peter Frampton's live double album, “Frampton Comes Alive,” that popularized its use. In the 1980s, Zapp had a series of gold albums with frontman Roger Troutman using voice box technology to make his voice sound futuristic, and in the 1990s AutoTune went from being a tool that producers used to fine-tune a singer's pitch on a recording to being the featured sound on a recording. this gave us Cher's “Believe,” which tops the world charts.
Over the decades, technology in the studio has made it possible for those with vocal issues to usurp craftsmanship and talent.
Before MTV debuted in 1981, we were warned that video was going to kill the radio star. Obviously that didn't happen. And now, AI-generated video can, in theory, replace filmed human performances. But even that shouldn't be a threat to real stars.
As with most things in life, when experience is devalued, it's easier to pass off trash as treasure. AutoTune and AI are allowing people who lack musical talent to game the system, like audio catfish.
When an artist like Church sings about heartbreak, listeners can relate to his lived experience. However, Breaking Rust is at the top of the charts with a song called “Walk My Way”… and the entity singing those words has never stepped foot.
That's not to say an AI song can't be catchy. It certainly can be. I just wonder: if the artist is not real, how can art be?
YouTube: @LZGrandersonShow
Perspectives
LA Times Perspectives offers AI-generated analysis of Voices content to provide all points of view. Insights does not appear in any news articles.
Perspectives
The following AI-generated content is powered by Perplexity. Content is not created or edited by the Los Angeles Times editorial staff.
Ideas expressed in the piece.
- AI-generated artists mock the genuine human experience by performing songs about heartbreak, suffering, and resilience without having experienced hardship, presenting a false authenticity to the public.[1].
- The public must be explicitly informed when content is artificially generated to avoid deception and manipulation, as the current landscape allows industry professionals to obscure the artificial nature of performers.
- AI technology allows people without genuine musical talent to bypass craftsmanship and expertise, allowing them to game the system by submitting artificial content as legitimate art on the same charts as human musicians.
- Authentic art requires lived human experience; Without that foundation, AI-generated performances cannot create genuine artistic expression or meaning, regardless of the commercial success they achieve.
- The industry should be concerned about how technology is devaluing the experience and allowing talentless creators to present what amounts to “trash as treasure,” undermining the credibility of music as an art form.
Different points of view on the subject.
- The success of AI-generated content has generated mixed reactions from the public, with some music fans finding entertainment and enjoyment in artificially generated songs despite their artificial origins.[1].
- Some industry perspectives see AI music as an interesting experimental phenomenon to explore what is possible with emerging technology, rather than characterizing it as inherently problematic or threatening.[1].
- Ultimately, audiences value the live performance experience and the direct human connection with artists, suggesting that AI-generated artists face natural limitations that prevent them from truly replacing human musicians in the market.
- Rather than categorically oppose AI-generated music, some suggest establishing it as a separate genre or distinct award category to differentiate it from human art without eliminating either way of existing simultaneously.
- The integration of new technologies into music production has a historical precedent, with innovations from voice boxes to AutoTune coexisting with human artistry without destroying the value of authentic musical talent.
