Will AI replace modular synths?

A lot of pop songs might as well be AI based; I saw video claiming that one Swedish dude writes a huge chunk of the top 40 based on a formula. The AI generated music I’ve heard, I can barely tell it’s AI sometimes. The AI stuff you played, well it’s better than anything I make pottering away in my home studio for a 45 minute session when the kids are in bed and I’m not too tired!

I make electronic music for fun. I think modular is basically train sets for middle aged ex-rockers! I doubt it’s going away any time soon, it’s a fun hobby with a significant user base. So I think the hobbyist market will remain for at least a decade.

In the 70s there were a handful of major labels, any underground was via tape trading. Today, anyone can make music so the market is hypersaturated; it’s EFFORT to actually find something outside of The Algorithm. And what is The Algorithm? A form of AI. We no longer have much in the way of mass culture - I guess there’s football and love island or whatever else normies watch - but many now have hyperspecialised interests, and from this microgenres and microcelebrities arise. So, there’s a lot out there, but it’s hard to find.

AI’s major threat is as a kind of cultural enforcer. It’s already used in social media to police the Overton window. It filters job applications. It’s essentially used as a force multiplier for power. And this always stifles creativity.

The more important question, to my mind, is what are we as beings? Have we (a) arisen haphazardly, or are (b) we created in God’s image? If it’s A, it’s entirely possible that we’ll eventually replace ourselves in every respect, including creativity. If it’s (b) as I believe, well, Jesus is coming back

_based on my thoughts on WaveTenet’s Youtube channel_