While some artists are vehemently against the use of artificial intelligence in art, others are leaning into the technology’s capabilities to create what otherwise wouldn’t be possible.
During an interview with BBC released on Tuesday, Paul McCartney said the “last Beatles record” will be released as soon as this year. While McCartney, 80, along with Ringo Starr, 82, are the only two living Beatles members, the late John Lennon will appear on the new track — thanks to artificial intelligence.
McCartney said an old demo of Lennon’s voice was “extricated” and then mixed with the record.
“When we came to make what will be the last Beatles record, it was a demo that John had, that we worked on,” McCartney said in the interview. “We were able to take John’s voice and get it pure through this A.I., so then we could mix the record, as you would normally do.”
McCartney didn’t give any hints regarding the title or lyrics of the song, but he did say that it will be “released this year.”
As far as the broader implications of the technology, McCartney voiced both excitement and apprehension.
“It’s kind of scary but exciting because it’s the future,” he said. “We’ll just have to see where that leads.”
Holly Tessler, a senior lecturer on the Beatles at the University of Liverpool, told the New York Times that using the late Lennon’s voice for a new track creates an “ethical gray area.”
“We have absolutely no way of knowing, creatively, if John were alive, what he’d want to do with these or what he’d want his contribution to be,” she said.
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