Paul McCartney Received Criticism After Claiming That Artificial Intelligence Helped Create One 'Final' Beatles Tune

Recently, Paul McCartney made some news because he suggested that AI (artificial intelligence) has helped to create one last Beatles song.

He received criticism from some people for saying that. Unusual for him, because he is not normally somebody in the center of a storm of controversy. But AI is controversial, and has been a hot button issue of late. Also, some are criticizing him because obviously, with two members of the Fab Four already gone, there will not be any new or last Beatles songs produced, obviously. 

Now, I have been wanting to discuss AI here for some time now. It seems that every headline is worse than the next. Indeed, the possibility that AI might not be good - and that it may even be disastrous - for human beings is not a new idea. Anyone who grew up in the 1980's remembers the Terminator movie franchise, and in the late 90's, we had The Matrix franchise basically insinuating the same thing. They were different types of movies, yet generally, the idea of human beings basically outsmarting themselves, to the point where our own technological ingenuity is ultimately used against us after we enable it to improve itself.

Some scary thoughts. And these fears are not necessarily ungrounded, either. Indeed, automation is already having an impact in our world. it has already removed some jobs, as any trip to your local supermarket or superstore - or indeed any fairly big store, seemingly, these days - will clearly reveal. Most of these stores now seem to have self checkout, which customers seem to gravitate to because of the convenience. I try to avoid them, because frankly, these are jobs that once existed which are being taken away. 

Now, I guess I will have to get into all of that in more detail later. For now, however, I wanted to start this off with a relatively positive story, with a former Beatle suggesting that this may have helped to produce one final Beatles song. That would be a plus. It's the same old thing, with modern technology enabling some great things which, previously, we would not have dared dream possible, and suddenly, it is allowing us to see and/or do. The scary thought, however, is that once AI begins to be able to create music and write and create art, not to mention the obvious threat it already poses to the job market, how can we contain it? What is going to prevent it from rendering human beings pretty much useless?  

Some good questions. I will try and explore these themes in some future blog entries. For now, I just wanted to mention all of this, and show the possibilities with this Beatles related story involving AI. Take a look at the articles below, and please feel free to share your thoughts:

Seán Lennon weighs in on “new” Beatles song and reveals involvement BY ADMIN · PUBLISHED JUNE 19, 2023 

http://webgrafikk.com/blog/news/sean-lennon-weighs-in-on-new-beatles-song-and-reveals-involvement/?fbclid=IwAR1zF2sjvGgLZVS3vh2AM9ty-0sj0Etk0pPpl5yC2u8Okyn-Zp1dF5mn4ZI

Paul McCartney says there’s nothing artificial in new Beatles song made using AI Musician clarifies how artificial intelligence was applied to vocals by John Lennon, amid anxiety over how the technology will affect music  Michael Sun @mlchaelsun Fri 23 Jun 2023 01.35 EDT Last modified on Fri     

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jun/23/paul-mccartney-says-theres-nothing-artificial-in-new-beatles-song-made-using-ai?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR0H9Ii2hTGgoOjt3tz98W-7x9xm8l2_gvKdQrhfUOs9gni9AT4ynGq_A-U#Echobox=1687501221

Sir Paul McCartney says artificial intelligence has enabled a 'final' Beatles song by Mark Savage BBC Music Correspondent, June 13, 2023:

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-65881813?fbclid=IwAR3e0WN9tYu8dW1hIs4LMyepjDuKyZK1o8bn2-UUYNJkFw7A3H_XjYXyNRY