Efficient But Risky: Teddy Swims Highlights AI Impact In The Music Industry

JAKARTA - The singer-songwriter from the US, Jaten Collin Dimsdale alias Teddy Swims, made a confession regarding his creative process in music. He admitted that he occasionally uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help produce his music.

The confession was made by Swims during a keynote speech in a talk session at South by Southwest Sydney (SXSW Sydney) which took place recently.

Swims tells how when he was in Sydney, producers who worked with him in Los Angeles (LA) were able to use AI to change song lyrics.

"Instead of going to the studio and writing the lyrics 15 times, he could really enter and just change words," said Swims, quoted by ABC AU, Tuesday, December 2. "Something as small as that, I think AI is very helpful," he added.

In addition, Swims also explained that he had used AI to help him in writing lyrics while on tour. He explained the method his team used,

"What we're going to do may just take acoustics and write the melody and lyrics and complete the song and upload it there and say, 'Okay, I want to hear this song as a country song' or 'I want to hear this song as a rock and roll song.'," said the 33-year-old musician.

According to him, this method is much more efficient. "Instead of taking time to reproduce something over and over again and over again in many different ways which will sometimes take months to do, you can get ideas about how things will look completely mature in this path," he explained.

He concluded that if AI was used in the right way, it would be a beautiful tool.

However, amid his praise for AI efficiency, Swims also highlighted another dangerous impact. He frankly said that the artist that AI was entirely generated was not something that amazed him. In addition, he admits that he often finds a number of AI videos of himself that seem ridiculous and strange.

The issue raised by Swims is in line with the AI controversy that continues to roll in the music industry. Recent reports indicate that 97 percent of people cannot distinguish between original music and music produced by AI.

A recent study has even shared a stern warning that people working in the music field are likely to lose a quarter of their income due to AI, for the next four years.