AI's Growing Influence in Music and Video Production: A Double-Edged Sword?

《Siren by Lee Min-kyung》
Lee Min-kyung from TenAsia sounds the alarm on the rapidly evolving entertainment industry, highlighting unseen issues and alerting to threats and changes surrounding the entertainment world.

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As distinguishing between AI-generated and human-created works becomes increasingly challenging, the music and video industries are noting that "AI's involvement in creation is nothing new."

Recently, it was revealed that the music video for the fourth track of composer Kim Hyung-seok's 'Four Seasons' project, 'At That Place, At That Time,' was produced by AI. This music video features AI-created animation-style visuals. According to the production company, the music video took only about three weeks to produce, less than 30% of the usual production time, and cost less than half the usual budget.

AI's impact on the music industry doesn't stop there. The revelation that the popular new rock band 'Velvet Sundown' is an AI artist has stirred the industry. Velvet Sundown had garnered over a million plays on Spotify and 1.5 million monthly listeners.

The creator, Tim Boucher, a web platform safety and policy expert from Quebec, stated in an interview with foreign media, "Velvet Sundown exists somewhere between being fully human and fully machine," and expressed his desire to challenge music copyright and identity through artistic provocation using AI.

This has sparked a lively debate online. One netizen expressed concern, "If we can't distinguish AI-created music from human creations, doesn't that render the human role in 'creation' meaningless?" Another commented, "Velvet Sundown is AI deceiving humans," expressing discomfort.

Producers and creators in the music and video industries collectively argue, "There's no issue in utilizing AI. What's wrong with using tools?" They point out that while using AI editing programs for music and video production is commonplace, criticizing AI for composing music and creating videos is inconsistent. The over-reliance on machines or misuse that fails to enhance the quality of works is also seen as a limitation of humans utilizing technology.

In the music industry, this controversy is seen as an incomprehensible contradiction. Most composers already pay for 'samples' created by others to craft new songs. Using samples doesn't necessarily mean a lack of creativity or authenticity, as creativity is exercised in arranging and editing samples to fit the song.

In video production, AI is already widely used for editing and correction. AI performs cut editing and generative AI automatically corrects awkward parts between frames, supporting human creativity.

A representative from Diffs Studio, the AI orchestration platform behind the 'At That Place, At That Time' music video, also stated, "AI is not just a visual aid but a core tool in creation."

However, when using AI to produce music or videos, the issue arises that creators' consent is not obtained for using the results as 'AI learning data.' This is an area that requires swift social discussion and institutional improvement.

Lee Min-kyung, TenAsia Reporter 2min_ror@tenasia.co.kr