This is an archive article published on June 8, 2023

Opinion Express View on AI and the Beatles: The fans won’t let it be

But the technology has very real implications for such knotty ethical issues as creative licence and copyright. These are questions that have come up repeatedly in the last few months

John Lennon, George Harrison, The Beatles artificial intelligence, artificial intelligence, Indian express, Opinion, Editorial, Current Affairs

June 8, 2023 06:52 AM IST First published on: Jun 8, 2023 at 06:52 AM IST

Short of bringing John Lennon and George Harrison back to life, the greatest gift that artificial intelligence can give Beatlemaniacs around the world is to make it seem, even if only for a little while, that the Fab Four are together again, harmonising and goofing around in the studio, recording immortal songs. In the past few weeks, AI-created tracks have cropped up on YouTube, some expanding unfinished fragments — like ‘Watching Rainbows’, originally created during the Beatles’ Get Back sessions in 1968. And songs from the solo careers of the foursome have been recreated with the vocals of their former bandmates, as with a version of Paul McCartney’s 2012 song ‘New’, featuring Lennon’s voice.

Perhaps the immediate, emotional response to this development would be to, as McCartney sings, “let it be”. What harm does this fantasy do to anyone — the remaining Beatles, McCartney and Ringo Starr, the estates of the other two, their families and the owner of their catalogue? One might even argue that hearing these songs only helps deepen fans’ appreciation of the Beatles’ individual and collective brilliance. After all, listening to McCartney’s 2013 single ‘Junk’ sung by Lennon in his inimitable, slightly nasal voice, only lays bare the beauty of the tune and the former’s genius for composition.

But AI does more than allow fans to inhabit a favourite fantasy: The technology has very real implications for such knotty ethical issues as creative licence and copyright. These are questions that have come up repeatedly in the last few months, and not just in the context of the Beatles’ AI resurgence. Alarm bells rang most urgently when an original AI-created song, ‘Heart On My Sleeve’, featuring the voices of Drake and The Weeknd, was released a month ago, prompting concerns about how easy it is to generate the voices of artists without their knowledge or consent. Even as fans wake up to the sound of new music by the Beatles, they would do well to keep this in mind.