New Rule Excludes AI Songs From Grammy Nominations
The rapid rise of artificial intelligence has created a host of cultural and ethical quandaries — including whether music composed entirely by a machine should be eligible for awards.
In its latest batch of rule changes for the annual Grammy Awards, the Recording Academy sought to address this issue.
According to the new language included in the organization’s “Artificial Intelligence (AI) Protocols,” a composition can only win an award if it was created, at least in part, by humans.
“A work that contains no human authorship is not eligible in any category,” the new rule asserts.
The academy’s board of trustees determined that certain elements of a song can be created by AI and still be eligible for an award, but the “human authorship of the work submitted must be meaningful.”
AI has already been proven successful in creating original musical compositions that are practically indistinguishable from human-created works.
Paul McCartney recently confirmed that an AI platform was able to isolate former bandmate John Lennon’s voice to create a song being billed as the “last Beatles record” — more than four decades after Lennon’s death.
“We will just have to see where that leads,” McCartney said of AI’s influence on modern culture, declaring that the new technology is “kind of scary but exciting.”
The record is slated to be released later this year.
McCartney recounted the process that led to this development, explaining: “So when we came to make what will be the last Beatles record, it was a demo that John had and we were able to take John’s voice and get it pure through this AI. Then we can mix the record, as you would normally do. So it gives you some sort of leeway.”
Nearly three decades ago, unreleased Lennon tapes were used to provide vocals for two new tracks included in the Beatles’ “Anthology.”
The Recording Academy also updated its rules regarding other Grammy awards categories, including the stipulation that an “album of the year” nomination can only go to someone whose work totals at least 20% of the overall composition. Two years ago, a rule was enacted that permitted anyone who worked on an album to receive a nomination in the category.
