Redditor Refuses To Help Musician Friend Promote Songs She Used AI Tool To Create

AI is everywhere.

At least that's how it feels from the way the world is talking about it.

The major pros of AI are still being weighed and determined.

The cons are rapidly being exposed.

Who is to say who should use it or not?

Redditor MissInterpret85 wanted to discuss their experience and get some feedback, so naturally, they came to the "Am I The A**hole" (AITA) subreddit.

They asked:

"AITA for not supporting my friend's 'AI music career?'"

The Original Poster (OP) explained:

"So a friend of mine likes to make music."

"She used to write her own music and lyrics and play them on a guitar."

"She has always been alright at both but never brilliant, which didn't matter because we were only jamming among friends."

"It was fun (I myself like to sing but also consider myself okay rather than actually talented)."

"About half a year ago, she discovered some AI music tool which you can feed with prompts and lyrics, and it'll spit out whatever genre and style you like with AI-generated instruments and vocals."

"I explained to her that I'm a little uneasy with the idea because it takes away from the creative process and 'craftsmanship' of making music, but I didn't press the issue because I thought it was just for fun."

"Now, though, she fancies the songs she's created with the AI so much that she's started a campaign for them."

"She's published an album on Spotify and advertises for it on Insta."

"She wants me to share her posts and support her 'music career.'"

"I don't want to do that."

"Does that make me a bad friend?"

The OP was left to wonder:

"So... AITA?"

Redditors shared their thoughts on this matter and weighed in on some options to the question, AITA:

• NTA – Not The A**hole
• YTA – You're The A**hole
• NAH – No A**holes Here
• ESH – Everyone Sucks Here

Redditors declared that OP was NOT the A**hole.

"NTA. AI slop has no place in creative roles/hobbies and will only devalue those with actual skill."

"Use in any other role that's not creative, all for it."

"But music, art AI should be shunned." ~ Aggravating_Part_120

"I had a friend do that and be super delusional about it."

"Also, the AI singing voices weren't even consistent 💀."

"I was pretty blunt and told him it was stupid, and he eventually stopped because it got no engagement, and I'm pretty sure people were making fun of it anyway."

"Honestly, either tell her straight up, or don't even bother because other people will crap on it anyway."

"She will get over it eventually."

"Also, AI music is so soulless and boring, no one's listening to that crap." ~ _yerdad_

"You're refusing to promote her ability to put in a prompt, you're not refusing to promote her music because it's not her music."

"It's basically a commission credited to a program." ~ lemon_charlie

"NAH. It actually gives wrong answers to technical problems."

"That makes it potentially very dangerous."

"Look how it is overriding insurance claims."

"Now, it should only be used for playing around."

"It has the ability to speak nonsense with authority." ~ LadyLightTravel

"It's absolutely terrible for the environment, and the ethical concerns are terrifying if you look into them."

"Until we figure out how to keep it from requiring ridiculous resources and can ensure it isn't actively willing to blackmail or harm people who try to shut it off, it should be shunned for pretty much everything. NTA." ~ rabid_rabbity

"No, absolutely NTA."

"She's using plagiarized slop and pushing it off as something real."

"She's lucky you're still friends with her." ~ Maridescent0

"NTA, she doesn't have a music career; the computer AI tool does." ~ Ok-Knowledge9154

"NTA. There's also evidence that using AI tools to generate your art actively erodes talent, and I'm honestly shocked by how fast that happens."

"Even writing simple emails seems like a Sisyphean task to people who've been using a chatbot for mere months."

"So her guitar talent, I wouldn't be shocked if it just disappeared."

"This is all ignoring the fact that her AI music is an amalgamation of stolen work stitched together without purpose."

"Rant aside, no, you don't need to cheerlead every friend's obnoxious decisions." ~ mooseplainer

"I don't know that helping someone cheat on a test would make you a good friend."

"It's basically the same thing."

"Taking the talent they were developing and watching them flush it down the toilet to take the easy way."

"AI music is surprisingly good, so I'm sure it's attractive, but the second people hear it's AI, there is pushback."

"I have a friend who started an 'AI' image business after trying to be an artist."

"All sympathy and support went out the window."

"If I can do it by typing in a prompt, it is valueless."  ~ Scruffy42

"NTA. You don't need to act as a cheerleader for every person's activities."

"You can just wish her good luck and listen to her when she talks about it, but you don't need to go promoting it yourself." ~ Fearless_Spring5611

"NTA. I'm not the typical Reddit 'AI is the antichrist's more evil brother' type - I use AI."

"But there are places to use it and places not to."

"'AI music' is not one of those places."

"Especially if she's trying to make money from it."

"If I use AI to give a quick idea of what a character looks like in my D&D campaign with friends, if they unexpectedly go 'what does that guy look like?'"

"A quick, 'he looks something like that,' and move on, fine (describing not so effective for my group, one of my players has real trouble imagining something from just words)."

"Or use it to help outline thoughts - basically, brain dump all my raw thoughts into it and have it order them into a structure I can work with."

"But using it for the creative process, making money from it, and calling it a 'music career' crosses a line."

"It's not her music career."

"Anyone who put the same prompt in the same model would get comparable results."

"She's not material to the process." ~ axw3555

"She's not creating the songs; AI is creating the songs."

"Your friend is a failed hack who should never call herself a 'musician.'"

"Tell her her AI slop will never be real music. NTA." ~ ChimpBuns

"NTA, she's not a musician, no matter how much she wants to pretend like she is."

"If she ever cared about her art in the way that every musician I know does, she would never have something else do it for her."

"I would give a more personal answer to you, but frankly, your friend represents everything I despise in the world, and so that's all I can say." ~ DominoNine

"NTA. Realistically, depending on how competent the program is, it's likely that if she ever takes off, people will find out that she's using gen AI, which at a minimum would be embarrassing and at worst career-ending."

"Not even getting into the nitty-gritty of how bad it is for the environment and its general need to steal from work that it has 'learned' with." ~ SizeKind1035

"NTA. A true friend should be able to say to another when they have a problem with them..."

"You're not a bad friend."

"If she asks you why you are not sharing the music, you can tell her that you'll need the name of the AI to credit it."

"You can also thank her for her support of AI's career."

"But then, there are a lot of chances that she'll take it badly..."

"You can just say you won't (share, that is). It is sufficient." ~ BulleDeLaurierRose

"NTA: I'm a huge music fan and also a long-time tech person, so I'm not afraid of AI the way a lot of people are and actually do enjoy some AI music that's coming out."

"There are a couple of pretty cool YouTube channels."

"That said, you have every right to not support her if you don't like what she's doing." ~ NoHorseNoMustache

"NTA. Encourage her to work on her own lyrics and guitar."

"Nobody is born brilliant."

"AI can be fun, but if you use it for a creative career and you're not putting something very heavy edit work in after, you're not actually making anything, the computer is (most likely with stolen goods from others' work)."

"Honestly, I think I'd be a little sad if I got big but knew in my heart it wasn't really mine." ~ RandomRamblings99

"NTA. Personally, I've now almost completed my second AI Album with music tailored to me, but I'd never push it or promote it."

"Some people listen because they like it, and because it gets dropped in Spotify playlists, but I completely understand that some people just don't support AI Music, and so should your friend." ~ riddlerprodigy

"AI artwork and music are very unlikely to be copyrightable because it was not authored by a human (basic requirement of copyright)."

"She's not going to be able to license or protect any of the music, which would make it incredibly difficult for her to make a career out of this specific method."

"She would have to wholly rely on people actually buying the songs/album, but is at a substantial risk of others just straight up stealing it with likely no consequences."

"NTA. She's not building a viable career."

"I don't think any label would go for AI music given my above reasoning." ~ KaraofRowanFarm

"I'm not even reading this... NTA." ~ zombiifissh

Reddit is with you, OP.

This AI use is getting out of control.

Your friend is gaming the system while real artists suffer.

You don't have to support work you're not comfortable with.

Hopefully, she'll understand.

Good Luck.