Why did I feel some shame and guilt when listening to music created by AI?

Nothing like starting the day with a bit of shame and guilt after realizing how much you were vibing to AI music, then questioning AI’s role in that feeling.

I usually have some YouTube music playlist in the background while working, and I was really into today’s playlist. I started shazamming it to add it to a long-term Spotify playlist, since the artist wasn’t listed, then realized that the faceless YouTube channel was the artist...

And upon looking further, I saw the disclaimer about synthetic content and a comment confirming it was AI-generated music.

First thought was: I can't believe I was vibing to this.

The second was, why did I immediately feel BAD vibing to this? The music obviously got me grooving and bobbing my head. So, from a purely musical perspective, I liked it.

So why?

Was it because it was a “creative” thing that made me feel that way? Well, that can’t be it because I consider product development and engineering to be creative fields. And I’ve accepted AI in that space.

Music is basically notes, arranged on a sheet, like code is syntax and architecture. I accepted AI in the IDE, so why does it feel different in the headphones?

I also know that making good products is more than just a zero-shot prompt in Lovable, with a “make me the best workout app that takes $1b dollars’” prompt.

So, I got a feeling that the artist didn’t just do a prompt that says, “make some banger music.”

What my gut tells me.

I realized my unease wasn't about the music itself, but the lack of a human to connect with. I want to know and learn more about who created it. Right now, it feels like I’m just listening to a machine; there is no connection.

It just reinforces my stance that I think if you are going to make something with AI, you also want to be able to see the human behind it.

I did find the producer tags on Spotify at least, but the artist itself, I’m not sure if it's a group or a single person.

Verdict

And if you are wondering, yes, I’m literally still listening to it as I write this. The music is still hitting, even when the human connection is lacking