Growing up in a musical family, I have experienced firsthand the power of music as a core aspect of human identity. Artists like the Beatles, Fleetwood Mac and Elton John shaped me into who I am today. Now, advancement of generative artificial intelligence is threatening the legacies of these human artists and the core values of expression and connection that the music industry was built on.
As technology advances, AI has developed into software that can create music so realistic that it can be difficult to tell apart from a human. Artificially generated artists are everywhere, in every genre. In October and November of 2025, at least 6 AI or AI-assisted artists debuted on Billboard charts. Billboard said that it has become increasingly hard to distinguish what is created using AI, and that in many cases, these AI “charting projects” have unknown origins.
If you were on Tiktok in 2023, you might remember the viral song, “Heart on My Sleeve.” The song was generated by an anonymous ghostwriter using AI voice filters to mimic the voices of artists Drake and The Weeknd, without consent. “Heart on my Sleeve” went viral online, sparking controversy over the morality of AI voice filters. In a Billboard interview, the ghostwriter’s manager said that the song was created by a human, and that the AI filters were just a tool. On September 8, 2023, another version of “Heart on My Sleeve” was released without voice filters to be submitted to the 2023 Grammys. The song was ultimately determined to be ineligible due to issues regarding the song’s commercial availability and problems with copyright.
Another well-known AI artist is Xania Monet, a R&B singer, created by Telisha Nikki Jones. Jones writes the lyrics while the music and voice we hear is generated using an artificial intelligence music creation program called Suno AI. Jones has publicly taken credit for Monet’s success and has even claimed that Xania is an extension of herself. Monet is the first known AI artist to earn enough radio airplay to debut on a Billboard radio chart. In September 2025, she topped the Billboard R&B digital song sales for two weeks straight. In October, she topped both the HotR&B and Hot Gospelcharts at #3 and #20. After what Billboard described as a “bidding war,” reportedly reaching 3 million dollars, Monet was signed to Hallwood Media, led by former Interscope records executive Neil Jacobson. Monet’s claim to fame has sparked controversy over the place of AI artists in the industry, however, her success is a testament to assimilation of artificially generated music in society today.
In the case of artificially generated country artist Breaking Rust, there does not appear to be anyone behind the AI avatar. In October 2025, after the release of his 2025 album, “Resilience,” the singer gained popularity online. His song “Walk My Walk” trended as the number one song on Billboard’s country digital song sales chart and currently has over 3 million streams on Spotify. A similar sounding AI generated country artist, Cain Walker, also topped the country digital song sales chart at numbers nine and 11. Walker’s “Don’t Tread on Me” has over a million views on Youtube. His comments are flooded with positive feedback from viewers, with one user commenting “artificial intelligence is here to save country music.”
Artificial intelligence can be used in many different ways in music. The Beatles’ “Now and Then” released in 2023 is an example of restorative artificial intelligence. After the deaths of John Lennon and George Harrison, no one believed the band would ever make music again. At the time, it was impossible. However, on November 2, 2023, The Beatles released “Now and Then.” John Lennon’s vocal demos, gifted to band members after his death, were not able to be used at the time due to the lack of technology. Eventually, the demos were restored using AI technology to isolate Lennon’s vocals. George Harrison’s guitar portions from when he was alive combined with the restored demos allowed the band to produce its first and last new song of the 21st century. “Now and Then” became the first song created using artificial intelligence to be nominated for a Grammy, cementing the place of AI in the music industry.
On social media today, AI-generated music is still going viral. On Tiktok, “A Million Colors” by Vinih Pray became the first AI-generated song to trend on the Tiktok top 50 charts. In some videos created using the song on Tiktok, users criticize the use of AI. One wrote, “why are people unironically using this awful AI sound?” Another wrote, “I probably wouldn’t have even noticed it was AI after hearing it enough times.” With over 371,700 uses of the sound on Tiktok, and 819,745 streams on Spotify, it makes one wonder: do the majority of these listeners know the song is AI or do they simply not care?
The success of AI generated artists in the music industry is surprising to me but not concerning. As someone whose life is deeply rooted in music, I believe that music is fundamentally human. It is an essential component of human nature rooted in our bodies. Music is our universal language, and that’s something that can’t be replaced.