When asked his thoughts on the recent advancements in AI platforms, the 76-year-old expressed his fear on it’s potential impact and how he thinks AI could change the music industry for the worse.

May told the magazine, “My major concern with it now is in the artistic area. I think by this time next year the landscape will be completely different. We won’t know which way is up. We won’t know what’s been created by AI and what’s been created by humans,”

He continued, “Everything is going to get very blurred and very confusing, and I think we might look back on 2023 as the last year when humans really dominated the music scene. I really think it could be that serious, and that doesn’t fill me with joy. It makes me feel apprehensive, and I’m preparing to feel sad about this.”

Whilst the English rock legend claims that “a lot of great stuff will come from AI, because it is going to increase the powers of humans to solve problems”, he is still apprehensive about the technological advance, stating “I think the whole thing is massively scary. It’s much more far-reaching than anybody realised — well, certainly than I realised”.

The notion of using computers to generate music is definitely not new, however, recent leaps in AI technology have expanded the possibilities of what computers can do in the music industry. For example, AI platforms such as ChatGPT are now able to replicate songwriting and music production to create entirely computer generated music, therefore eliminating the whole writing and recording process artists go through.

Brian May is not the first musician to share their thoughts on AI’s impact on the music industry, and he definitely won’t be the last.

Nick Cave revealed in his blog, The Red Hand Files, that he believes AI songwriting to be a “grotesque mockery of what it is to be human”, while Sting told the BBC that he isn’t impressed by AI, and songwriters will have to fight to protect “our human capital against AI”.

Some artists however, are seemingly big fans of the way technology is evolving in the music industry. For example, Canadian singer-songwriter Grimes is allowing fans to use her voice in AI generated songs, so long as they share the royalties with her.

I’ll split 50% royalties on any successful AI generated song that uses my voice. Same deal as I would with any artist i collab with. Feel free to use my voice without penalty. I have no label and no legal bindings. pic.twitter.com/KIY60B5uqt

— Grimes (@Grimezsz) April 24, 2023

Brian May‘s conversation with Guitar Player magazine is set to feature in the October 2023 issue, however, you can read the interview online here.