Generative AI replacing the craft of music and the de-skilling fear

On the Within Reason podcast hosted by Alex O’Connor, Adam Neely discussed Generative AI replacing the craft of music and the de-skilling fear and outlined his concerns about its impact on human musicianship and craft. Neely said he fears de-skilling due to automation in music and described a “horrifying future” in which AI reduces human inspiration in music. He argued that “taste” is the human element central to musical inspiration and said that there is “very little inspiration to be had in another person’s taste.” Neely compared this potential loss of skill to the early 20th century assembly line, saying skilled manufacturers lost the need for those skills.

Neely framed these points in his “Suno, AI Music, and the Bad Future” video and discussion, which has over 900,000 views. He said, “I don’t see how greatness can come from a tool like generative AI. It might, but I don’t see the path,” and said in some of his more controversial remarks that “AI music is not music,” while stating that musicality is defined by interactions with other people and the ability to communicate an emotional state. He contrasted inspiration derived from another person’s taste with inspiration and direction gained from another person’s craft, describing the role models he had when he grew up and his desire to develop similar crafts. He said disruption to the industry was “very much at the forefront of my fears” and expressed concern about the art form itself.

Adam Neely expressed fears about what he called de-skilling due to automation in music and described a “horrifying future” in which generative AI reduces human inspiration in music. He argued that “taste” is the human element central to musical inspiration and stated that there is “very little inspiration to be had in another person’s taste.” Neely contrasted inspiration derived from another person’s taste with the inspiration and direction that can be gained from another person’s craft.

Neely said that disruption to the industry is “very much at the forefront of my fears” and noted that disruption has happened many times before in the music industry, citing the invention of recorded music and the invention of the synthesiser as examples. He discussed the early 20th-century assembly line as a historical instance when skilled manufacturers of cars no longer needed those skills as work was automated. Neely said he was worried that a similar removal of necessity for musical craft could occur within the music industry and that this would affect the art form itself.

Neely framed these concerns in his “Suno, AI Music, and the Bad Future” video and in discussion on the Within Reason podcast hosted by Alex O’Connor; the video has over 900,000 views. He said, “I don’t see how greatness can come from a tool like generative AI. It might, but I don’t see the path.” In remarks some described as controversial, he said that “AI music is not music” while also stating that musicality is defined by interactions with other people and the ability to communicate an emotional state.

Adam Neely has expressed a number of concerns about the impact of generative AI on music. He said, “I don’t see how greatness can come from a tool like generative AI. It might, but I don’t see the path.” In discussing the human elements central to musical inspiration, Neely noted, “To me, that is a horrifying future. This is the bad future that I talk about in the Suno and AI video because there is very little inspiration to be had in another person’s taste, whereas there’s a lot of inspiration and a lot of direction that you can gain from another person’s craft.”

Neely’s fear of de-skilling due to automation is evident in his statement: “People talk all the time about de-skilling, which is the process by which we lose our skills because we’re automating them, like the case of the early 20th century [and] the assembly line; you had all these skilled manufacturers of cars but through the invention of the assembly line. They didn’t need to have those skills anymore… I’m worried that that’s going to happen.” He also expressed skepticism about AI’s role in music by stating, “In some of my more controversial statements, I’ve said that AI music is not music, which I think is not necessarily true. Sure, you could define it as music, [but] musicality to me is defined by interactions with other people and your ability to communicate an emotional state from yourself to another person, which is a fundamentally human thing.”

Disruption in the industry is something Neely sees as very concerning, highlighted by his comparison to historical changes: “Disruption to the industry is very much at the forefront of my fears, but disruption to the industry has happened many times before in the music industry, like the invention of recorded music itself, the invention of the synthesiser.”

Adam Neely presented his views on generative AI and music on the Within Reason podcast hosted by Alex O’Connor. He also addressed these points in his video “Suno, AI Music, and the Bad Future.” The video has over 900,000 views. Both the podcast discussion and the video present Neely’s concerns about the impact of AI on human musicianship and craft.

On the podcast and in the video, Neely discussed fears of de-skilling due to automation in music and described a “horrifying future” in which AI reduces human inspiration. He identified “taste” as the human element central to musical inspiration and stated that there is “very little inspiration to be had in another person’s taste.” Neely contrasted inspiration derived from taste with the inspiration and direction that can be gained from another person’s craft.

Neely described the role models he had when he grew up as having “amazing, beautiful musical crafts” and said he wanted to develop similar crafts for himself. He said disruption to the industry is “very much at the forefront of my fears” and cited the invention of recorded music and the invention of the synthesiser as past examples of industry disruption. He referenced the early 20th-century assembly line as an instance where skilled manufacturers lost the need for their skills and said he was worried the same could happen to musical craft.

Adam Neely argued that “taste” is the human element central to musical inspiration and stated that there is “very little inspiration to be had in another person’s taste.” He presented taste as distinct from technical ability, positioning it as an aspect of human musical judgment that guides choices rather than the procedural skills of making music. Neely’s remarks framed taste as a personal, human quality that informs artistic decisions and inspiration.

Neely contrasted taste with craft, saying that inspiration and direction often come from another person’s craft rather than their taste. He described the role models he had when he grew up as having “amazing, beautiful musical crafts” and said that he wanted to develop the crafts they had, noting that he didn’t primarily care about their taste but about what they could do. Neely linked his desire for greatness to those role models’ crafts and said he wanted to pursue similar development of skill.

Neely expressed skepticism about generative AI producing genuine musical greatness, saying, “I don’t see how greatness can come from a tool like generative AI. It might, but I don’t see the path.” He also acknowledged making controversial statements that “AI music is not music” while adding that, for him, “musicality…is defined by interactions with other people and your ability to communicate an emotional state from yourself to another person,” which he described as a fundamentally human thing.

CONCLUSION

Adam Neely presented a cautious, critical stance on generative AI replacing the craft of music, stating he fears de‑skilling due to automation and describing what he called a “horrifying future” in which AI reduces human inspiration in music. He said, “I don’t see how greatness can come from a tool like generative AI. It might, but I don’t see the path.” Neely warned that de‑skilling is “the process by which we lose our skills because we’re automating them,” and he compared that process to the early 20th-century assembly line in which skilled manufacturers no longer needed those skills. He also said that “disruption to the industry is very much at the forefront of my fears” and referenced earlier industry changes such as the invention of recorded music and the synthesiser.

Neely distinguished between taste and craft, stating that there is “very little inspiration to be had in another person’s taste” while asserting that “there’s a lot of inspiration and a lot of direction that you can gain from another person’s craft.” He described role models who had “amazing, beautiful musical crafts” and said he wanted to develop similar crafts for himself. Neely framed musicality as “defined by interactions with other people and your ability to communicate an emotional state from yourself to another person,” and he reiterated his skepticism about AI producing genuine musical greatness.