Wolfgang Van Halen Calls The Use Of AI In Ridiculous Music And A Waste Of Time

Wolfgang Van Halen (Instagram @rockhall)

JAKARTA - Wolfgang Van Halen has again opened his voice about his views on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the music industry. Former Van Halen bassist, who is now the frontman of Mammoth WVH, bluntly calls AI a generative something ridiculous and useless.

In an interview with the Q102 radio station in Springfield, Missouri, Wolfgang did not hesitate to convey his skeptical attitude.

In my opinion, generative AI is ridiculous. I think it's stupid. I think it's just a waste of time, "said Wolfgang.

For Wolfgang, AI should have a more practical function, not to be involved in the art world. He gave a simple example: "AI should put a damping on the car, not create works of art for us. But, other people may feel different. That's how I feel. I think it's stupid."

When asked about the record label phenomenon that began to embrace AI technology, Wolfgang expressed his criticism. He considered it outrageous and saw the motive behind it was solely about financial gain.

"Yes, that's outrageous. You know why? Because it allows them to pay fewer people," he explained.

According to him, the label officials only see how profits can increase by employing fewer people for more jobs and lower costs. This condition, he said, seems to be a common problem in many industries.

"It's kind of the way every industry seems like that in the end, and it sucks," he said. It's never really about what's made. It's about how quickly you can make it and hand it over to people.

His view of AI this time is not the first to be delivered. In August 2023, in an interview with Primary Radio, he has confirmed that AI will never be able to match human creativity.

"In my opinion, when it helps creation, that kind of 'smart drummer' thing (from Logic), it can help," he said.

However, for the original creation, he is pessimistic. "AI can't compete. The only way he can compete is to plagiarize the combination of everything we've done. So, without us, he can't exist. So, when it comes to creating original things, there's no chance at all."

Wolfgang also touched on the controversy surrounding the use of AI by Paul McCartney to extract John Lennon's voice from an old demo. He saw many people misunderstanding the case. "In my opinion, all the things that came out with Paul McCartney used AI on this new Beatles song, everyone tried to make him look like he used a generative AI, making John Lennon sing fake, even though that's not what they did," he said.

Wolfgang explained that McCartney only used AI to separate Lennon's vocals from demo footage, an application he thought could be very helpful. Unfortunately, many people only read news titles on social media without finding out deeper facts.

They used a tool to separate their vocals from old demos. But, of course, no one reads the article; they only read tweets and get angry without informing themselves. Big surprise," Wolfgang continued.

He closed the conversation with a message: "AI can't replace our brains and creativity. They won't exist without us. So, the only thing they can do is take what we have done and mess it up."