- I really wanted to hate the AI-generated versions of the BTS members’ voices.
- Then I heard AI Jungkook sing “Blinding Lights”.
- And it was very, very good.
Two weeks ago, I heard BTS member Jungkook cover “Blinding Lights,” one of my favorite The Weeknd songs.
I was wondering when you recorded and released the cover. Then I realized it wasn’t Jungkook.
It was AI Jungkook.
I wanted to hate him. He wasn’t Jungkook, he was an AI voice from an uncanny valley. On one hand, he is tremendously worrisome, considering the privacy concerns, need for consentand rampant Copyright around the use of AI-generated voices.
But it also sounded great.
Then the YouTube algorithm did its thing, and the next thing I knew I was listening to AI Jungkook, V, Jimin sing “Starboy” by The Weeknd.
And then the Rihanna covers started. The vocals on the track were close enough to the real deal to win me over: a self-proclaimed ARMY who’s been listening to BTS since the 2015 release of “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 1.”
The covers are not perfect. Sometimes the AI voices are off-beat and glitchy.
In this AI version of Charlie Puth’s “Attention,” for example, AI Jimin stumbles across the line “I know the dress is karma,” a comforting reminder that AI tools are still far from perfect.
As far as I’m concerned, AI BTS will never replace the real band. A team of humans, not machines, made hits like “Spring Day” and “Save Me.” If you’ve been to a BTS concert and witnessed electricity in the air, a machine can’t replicate that. Music is a deeply human experience. AND real voices matter.
But for now, excuse me while I play AI Jungkook’s “Starboy” again. He’s too good to give up.
