Overcoming AI’s ‘Storytelling’ Problem: Lessons From The Music Industry

Will.i.am at the 2024 Invest Fest

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Artificial intelligence is spurring the creation of industries not yet conceived. A striking example is how the music industry evolved as it was shaped by new technologies.

That’s the word from music artist and AI proponent will.i.am, speaking at the recent AI for Good Summit in Geneva, Switzerland. Will.i.am is a goodwill ambassador to the AI for Good Skills Coalition, a global initiative led by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations agency for digital technologies, to promote learning and development of AI skills across the globe, especially among schoolchildren in distressed regions. Along with ITU, the AI for Good Summit was also supported by the International Electrotechnical Commission (EIC).

The acronym LLM should stand for “live with love mechanism,” will.i.am urged in a press conference at the AI for Good event. “Which ‘ism’ does AI align with? Is AI an agent of capitalism? Communism? Racism? Socialism? Or humanism? If its humanism, we’re all right. It’s all about being empathetic, being mindful, having tolerance, love, patience, understanding, curiosity, urgency to solve problems. Humanism is the only ism AI should be in.”

Importantly, AI is prompting the growth of new industries that are only beginning to be realized, he pointed out. For instance, when it comes to AI being seen as a threat to creative talent in music and the arts, it points to a “storytelling problem,” he said. “The people that are building the models are researchers who went to school, but didn’t learn about the arts.”

Looking back over the history of technology-driven innovation, “Thomas Edison collaborated with not only technologists, but the arts,” he pointed out. The development of vinyl records created a whole new art industry. The Grammy is a gramophone, the original hardware.”

Today’s AI technology is phenomenal, “and in a way, the developers are too – they are…

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