AR Rahman says use of AI in making songs needs to be ‘controlled’: ‘Some of the songs are so filthy…’

Composer AR Rahman said that the use of AI in music should be ‘controlled.’ Rahman had created a Lal Salaam song using AI.

AR Rahman used AI (Artificial Intelligence) to recreate the voices of two late singers, Bamba Bakya and Shahul Hameed for a song titled Thimiri Yezhuda in Rajinikanth's Lal Salaam in 2024. The decision received mixed reviews from fans and critics. What does the composer think of the trend of using AI to make songs? In an interview with PTI, Rahman said that the use needs to be ‘controlled’ or else it will lead to chaos. (Also read: AR Rahman defends decision of using AI in music, credits it as a 'tool to speed up things and not fire people’)

What Rahman said

Indian music composer and singer AR Rahman reacted to the use of AI in creating songs. (AFP)

During the interaction, Rahman said, “I don’t know what’s going to be, belling the cat. Some of the songs are so filthy, yet they come out with the voices of popular singers. It needs to be controlled because if it’s not, there’ll be chaos.”

He added, “There are both good and bad aspects, and the good things should be used to empower people who never had the chance to put their vision into action. But overusing it in a bad way is bad for us. It’s like mixing poison with oxygen and breathing it in. There should be rules, like certain things you can't do. Like, how they talk about ethics or behaviour in a society, this is also behaviour in the software and digital world.”

On the work front, AR Rahman's upcoming project as a music composer is for Mani Ratnam's Thug Life. The film starring Kamal Haasan, releases in theatres nationwide on June 5.