AI-generated music is provoking one of the most intense discussions I've ever seen in the music world. I perfectly understand the feeling of many musicians, because I've been there myself. At first, the feeling was one of threat. Something new appearing and confusing everything we've spent years building. Over time, I decided to experiment. I opened an account on Suno AI and started generating some pieces, not for my work as Alex Cebe, but for other contexts. This changed my perception. It didn't eliminate the doubts, but it brought nuances.
One of the most common criticisms is that AI-generated music is stolen from other musicians. This is a delicate point and there are still ongoing legal issues. But I also ask a simple question. Since when has music not been based on music?
If we go back in time, we will see that entire genres were built on repetition, variation, and tradition. Structures, phrases, and ideas have circulated for decades. Artists have worked within existing languages, recreating and evolving them. No one creates from absolute zero. All music carries a past.
At the same time, it's important to consider that there's a difference between human influence and AI training. The musician listens, forgets, blends it with their own life. AI learns from large volumes of data. This raises real ethical questions, especially regarding subscriptions and payments. Ignoring this doesn't help the debate.
But there's another side that really catches my attention and that few people discuss calmly: the role of the listener.
What's wrong with someone who isn't a musician creating a song and liking what they created? If it generates a genuine moment, if a person connects, if the listener has a good time, if it accompanies a piece of their life, that has value. Music has always been about that too. Not just about technique or authorship, but about experience.
In a way, AI broadens access to creation. Just as the internet freed artists from record labels, now music production tools are freeing the listener from a passive position. Platforms like YouTube and Spotify had already changed consumption. Now we are selling a change in the very act of creation, and this doesn't mean the end of musicians. Quite the contrary. The music market will not disappear. Instruments will continue to be manufactured and purchased. Live shows will continue to exist. Music schools and teachers will continue to train people. None of this depends exclusively on how music is generated.
A live show delivers something that no AI can deliver: presence, risk, exchange, energy. An instrument is not just a production tool; it's a form of personal expression. Learning music is not just about reaching a final result; it's about developing listening skills, sensitivity, and language.
Where AI truly impacts is on another level: large-scale production, fast tracks, functional music. In this territory, the efficiency is astounding, and the changes are already happening. According to recent reports from the streaming and music technology market, the use of AI tools in audio creation has grown rapidly in the last two years, with millions of tracks being generated monthly. At the same time, the consumption of live music continues to rise globally, with record-breaking box office numbers post-pandemic and an increased demand for in-person experiences. These two movements are not mutually exclusive. They coexist.
Perhaps the most important question is not whether AI is right or wrong, but what becomes valuable now. It may be that value becomes increasingly easier to automate. Context, story, intention, presence. It may be that a new type of artist emerges, one who doesn't reject technology but also doesn't abandon their own identity.
In my case, I've found a path that makes sense to me. I use AI in some specific contexts and in other projects, but I preserve what I consider essential in my own work. I don't see them as replacements. See them as tools.
Music has always changed. We've always incorporated new technologies. It has always generated resistance. And I've always found a way to stay alive. Perhaps this is just another one of those moments.
Ultimately, after all this discussion, perhaps there's an interesting irony here. AI-generated music, instead of diminishing, has ended up greatly enhancing the value of music that isn't AI-generated. Because the easier it becomes to create music, the more evident what is rare becomes. Presence, intention, history, and identity begin to weigh more heavily. And that's precisely where music made by people remains irreplaceable.
