Kelly Clarkson was the most recent guest on the culture/comedy podcast Las Culturistas, hosted by Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers. Towards the end of each episode, there's a segment called "I Don't Think So Honey," where the guest has one minute to fire off a hot take or rant about whatever they choose. On Clarkson's episode, which dropped yesterday, Sept. 30, she talked about loving AI but argues that humans should have a separate Billboard chart from, in her words, "AI artists."
Her full take, which happens around the 1:22:34 point in the podcast, reads like this:
Controversial, I don't care. Here's the thing. I love AI. There are very amazing things with AI that I am obsessed with — and I'm very into it artistically, too. I have fun with it just like everybody else does. But when you see AI artists competing on a chart with humans, I have an issue. I think there should be a separate chart. I think it's welcome. I think it's really cool and creative what we're going to create with AI, musically. People that maybe can't do certain things will maybe be able to do it now. I think it's a fun field to play in, but I don't think that they should be competing with humans. It's basically like having the Olympics and then you're having robots compete with humans. Well, who's gonna through further? Oh, I wonder. I'm down with it, and I think it's a very interesting thing, and what we're gonna do with it is gonna be fun. But I do not think they should be competing.
Following her one minute, Yang reveals he had no idea that human and AI were on the same charts. To Clarkson's point, Billboard has not banned AI-generated music, but is instead moving toward identifying and labeling it. Meanwhile, Australia recently made wholly AI-generated recordings ineligible for its charts, and the UK’s Official Charts has yet to announce a policy. Music industry groups are pushing a distinction between “AI-generated” and “AI-assisted” recordings.
Rogers then brought up the disturbing interviews that have been circulating with "AI actress" Tilly Norwood. CNN recently posted a clip about their "interview" with her, where the AI bot stated that there should be separate categories for AI at the Oscars. But the Academy's rules are that "only roles performed by humans are considered eligible for and Oscar." The AI also went on Piers Morgan and glitched by randomly speaking Cantonese unprompted.
Yang, Rogers, and Clarkson continued to talk briefly about AutoTune, data centers, and LLM being trained on copyrighted art. Clarkson's final note was that: "I think all of it can be creative. But like you said, we have to have the regulation of respect and also room. There's room for everything and you can't lose the human element. I think that would be a shame."
It seems like Clarkson's pitch here is in good faith, but I'm so tired of hearing the phrase "it's not going anywhere," as if we have no control over the world that we're actively creating. The complacent attitude is terrifying. I also think the argument that it opens opportunities, that people who "maybe can't do certain things will maybe be able to do it now," is pretty lame. Limits are good. Limits are healthy. AI opening up "infinite opportunities" to learn or create is a farce. I think it's warping our understanding of time so much that we will be forced to rely on it because we've lost touch with steady human growth to keep up with increasing productive demand.
Relatedly, Stereogum recently caught up with Kim Gordon, who addressed the threat of AI on “DIRTY TECH” this year. We asked her about apps like Suno, which allows users to generate songs in artists’ distinctive styles.
Anyway, watch Clarkson’s interview below.
