Harrdy Sandhu on AI taking over the music space: It feels like a threat to musicians like me
Musician Harrdy Sandhu used AI in his latest music video Psycho, but explains that it’s essential to not let it overpower human abilities.
AI (artificial intelligence) technology has brought about significant advancements in the music industry, impacting various aspects of the creative process including production, distribution, and consumption of music. Despite concerns about its potential negative effects, singer Harrdy Sandhu has wholeheartedly embraced AI by incorporating it into his recently released music video Psycho. Stating it to be his way of keeping up with the changing times, he tells says, “It’s an AI world today and I am trying to upgrade myself to fit here. So we made robots to do bhangra in our music video and it’s looking great.”
The Bijlee Bijlee singer, however, clarifies that he is no different when it comes to being scared of AI taking on the whole music world. “It definitely feels like a threat to musicians like me because of the pace at which this technology is growing. Ever since AI has come into the picture, there is a sense of fear. In fact, me and other friends from the industry were discussing that lagta hai ab toh hamara kaam bhi AI hi karega. It might take away our job tomorrow,” he expresses concern.
In order to survive in this competitive industry, Sandhu says it’s a responsibility on everybody to strike a balance and not let AI or for that matter any technology overpower human abilities. “One needs to use AI only for the benefit of society and not to replace humans,” asserts the singer, who was away from the limelight for a long time, taking a break from the chaos and working on his music.
“My effort is to come up with something fresh and that’s why it takes more time than one would expect. In this process, I even end up scrapping several tines,” shares Sandhu, and goes on to explain, “As soon as I realise that the song is sounding similar to what I’ve done earlier, I stop midway. And this has happened a lot of times. That’s why, I have a bank of unreleased song.”
Recounting one such incident when he made a great song but could not release it, the singer reveals, “After Backbone released in 2017, I made a song named Guitar Sikhda. The melody was different but the guitars and everything sounded very similar to Backbone, so I stopped working on it. But because the song was really good, I gave it to one of my friends, and it turned out to be a big hit.”
Ask him if he ever thinks of releasing those songs, and the singer opines, “Har song us waqt ke music trends ke hisaab se banta hai. Now when I hear it, it sounds old. I know people will love the songs if I release them, but it’s about me not wanting to repeat what I have done before.”