Kelly Clarkson Shares Her ‘Controversial’ Take on AI: ‘I Think It’s Welcome to the Table’
Billboard ·
"I don't think it's going anywhere, but you have to be able to differentiate," she said. "We can't lose human."
Artificial intelligence is one of the hottest topics in the music industry currently, and now, Kelly Clarkson is adding her take to the mix.
On the latest episode of Las Culturistas , the singer shared that she believes that a lot of good can come from the technology — as long as it doesn’t overlap with human creation in the public consciousness. “Controversial? I don’t care: I love AI,” Clarkson began. “There are very amazing things with AI that I’m obsessed with. I’m into it artistically, too. I have fun with it.”
That alone is a polarizing statement for many, as the Grammy winner herself pointed out. Musical AI companies such as Suno have been facing numerous copyright lawsuits over allegedly training their generative models on unlicensed works, something countless artists have spoken out against.
Clarkson, however, expressed that she thinks most opinions on AI music are too “black-and-white.” “I think it’s welcome to the table — I think it’s really cool what we’re going to create with AI musically,” she told hosts Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. “I think it’s a fun field to play in, but I don’t think they should be competing with humans.”
“When you see AI artists competing on a chart with humans, I have an issue,” she explained of her stance. “I think there should be a separate chart … I think it is interesting, and there are so many amazing scientific things that are happening. I don’t think it’s going anywhere, but you have to be able to differentiate. We can’t lose human. There can be an appetite for both is what I’m saying.”
As AI continues to rapidly develop, Billboard — like the rest of the industry — is working to adapt. In August, Billboard reaffirmed its commitment to transparently note if and when an artificially generated song enters its charts. That same day, entertainment data company Luminate announced its plans to label AI-created content on its platform.
“Ensuring transparency around AI-generated music requires collaboration across the entire industry from artists and labels to DSPs, technology companies and industry organizations,” Silvio Pietroluongo, Billboard ‘s executive vp of charts and data partnerships, stated at the time. “We’re encouraged by the development of new identification tools and will continue testing and leveraging solutions across the ecosystem, to ensure our charts continue to accurately and responsibly reflect music consumption.”
Watch Clarkson’s full guest episode on Las Culturistas above.