Month: May 2026

Part 6: Is AI-Made Music Irresistible to Humans, or Being Consciously Shunned?

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No doubt some of you (and many others) never thought AI-produced songs would become big hits on influential music charts. And yet, there’s been two AI-made songs that went to #1 on two fairly big charts in the last six months of this writing. One is “Walk My Walk” by Breaking Rust on Billboard’s Country Digital Song sales. This one alone is considered the first instance of an AI song hitting numero uno on anything owned by Billboard. The second one is “Celebrate Me” by IngaRose on global iTunes charts at the beginning of this year. 

While no AI song has made it to #1 on any mainstream Billboard chart yet, it doesn’t count others that came close. Various others have hit the Top Ten over the last year, albeit on niche music charts and, again, not on Billboard.

Still, the news of the ones charting that high made big news on social media. It made even skeptics begin to speculate on what could happen if AI creations continue making headway in the mainstream music industry. But, it may also send a new signal at what’s soon to happen based on a recent report saying music listeners are beginning to reject AI music creations.

This hasn’t stopped people from making AI songs. There was even an instance of a songwriter who reported that his unfinished song was stolen by an AI creator, completed, and posted on a streaming service.

It’s news like this that might be the final straw for music creators and fans. But it’s time to look at the reality of whether the music industry can control AI taking over things (like the Oscars now will for movies), or if it’s too late to prevent a turn of the tide. The outcome may involve the sheer will of the public at large.

Is There Really a Soul in AI-Produced Music?

I’ll admit that I listened to the songs listed above for research, and they were not bad. The AI artist IngaRose, in particular, had a voice all music industry labels and producers look for in ways of standing out. But, reality is reality. A digitally produced voice still has a way about it that just feels empty when listened to more intently. It’s everything to do with sincerity in whether you truly believe in what the artist is singing about. There’s a humanness to sincerity in singing that even far too many human singers don’t have.

Beyond that, there’s also a new psychological aspect to AI singers—in that if a listener is told it’s AI, they’re more apt to feel…well, cheated. It seems your fellow human ultimately wants fellow humans to express themselves in music as a form of an artistic gift. 

The above comes from a recent study citing a decline in listening to music produced by AI, most notably in the coveted Gen Z and Alpha categories. As reported, it seems there’s a chain reaction to that in some major artists penning an open letter saying “Say No to Suno.” With the latter AI software being a leader in producing AI music, it’s possible avid fans of those artists agree with the AI issue and began turning their backs.

Others are saying AI is even using cultural appropriation, as in black music being digitally generated while mimicking fake life pains. Yeah, it’s a reminder the real human struggle is where the true magic is in the best music produced over the last 100 years. 

Worst of this is the knowledge that AI apps like Suno are also taking away from royalty rights of real artists. With many listening to music to inspire creating music of their own, the realization that AI could take that away (along with basic jobs) is a beacon for a possible approaching backlash. 

So, I pose a bigger question: Are we going to see AI back off in the music industry due to much of the public hating it? What that looks like is also in question as AI corporations continue to push it hard on the public, whether people want it or not.

What Would Happen with an AI Music Industry Pushback?

The biggest problem isn’t so much how much the public rejects AI in music. It’s in how far AI companies continue to push it out there as a piece of digital candy. Even if some people reject AI-produced music, it’s going to keep happening as the technology gets better and there’s pirates out there willing to use it for maximum moneymaking.

We could see an eventual public division in the world over rejecting AI and those who embrace it all the way. And that almost looks biblical in scope if you consider how much AI could take over everything, including running the world in various significant ways. And it may, again, come down to the very point of this blog: Can human creativity prevail rather than be fragmented to its own minority existence in our world? 

It all comes down to the temperament of people and what they do. In the immediate term, there may be an AI burnout phase where people reject creative things done by AI. Once AI becomes more refined, it may be too good to resist for a large amount of our world population. 

Regardless, most people seem to be reawakened to the very idea behind music of all types. And that is, human pain and expression are what make good songs/performances. There’s an aura there people can feel that’s almost ineffable, yet clearly present. The palpable science behind this may be the next big discovery to prove what makes a human creation more compelling. 

Many people also don’t want to be cheated of that aura. Perhaps they’re still being fooled by it—then changing their minds on support when told it’s AI. It’s why it’s important now that streaming services officially tell us what’s created by AI and what isn’t. Not all are, so AI continuing to encroach on the music industry would have to be a great deception to continue growing. 

Don’t be surprised if said deception grows larger when big money is at stake. The good news, at least, is that (through the above study anyway), humans want real humans to express themselves musically. If their bullshit detectors are always on full force, we’ll continue to hear real performers creating their own songs and making awesome performances.

Yes, but is the Music Talent Pool Growing Thin?

Sure, the argument can be made we don’t have the type of musical artists we once saw. Those who get pushed to the mainstream are sometimes mediocre and don’t express themselves as compellingly as prior generational artists did. 

In this case, AI can create faux artists who bring that type of expression back. I’ll admit the AI artists I heard seemed to express themselves deeper, even if clearly infringing by being an amalgam of great artists from long ago or the recent past. 

What’s needed is supporting the artists out there who really express themselves with sincerity in a song. Far too many don’t get the support they need by the public due to lack of promotion. With the threat of AI taking away those individuals, the best thing that can happen is just more acute awareness of would could happen. Plus, since millions of real people would love to make legit money in the music business, the sheer will of the public may be the future—uh, AI unplugging.

In Part 7, I’m going to look at how AI creative assistants seem to be imitating a mix of existing content available online. Is it really copyright infringement when it’s a mix of everything ever created? 

/End

Part 5: Can Humans Still Make a Living as Writers in the Age of AI?

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There was a time in the world we live in (you know, Earth) when you could make a decent living as a writer, either via writing for magazines, or in the online realms. I was fortunate to have a 15-year career as a freelance writer when it was possible to write for online media outlets and/or independent websites. In my early days of that, it was writing for Yahoo! Contributor Network and being allowed to write 3 daily columns for their Movies/TV division. Later, I moved into writing for businesses, which allowed me to set my own rates. All of that was never disturbed by the specter of artificial intelligence thanks to everyone valuing a human in writing something that sticks with you.

Things changed virtually overnight just a couple of years ago when AI took a broad jump in its abilities. The timing was almost right with me since I took a break from writing starting in 2023 after years of writing for someone nearly every day. By the time I was ready to return to some paid writing a year and a half later, I found out my old clients were using AI bots themselves, and reports were out AI had taken over most writing jobs.

The real truth might be a little different based on recent statistics I’ve seen. As much as human writing has dried up in favor of AI bots that supposedly mimic human writing ability to the letter, there may still be room for human beings to move in.

What’s the Real Truth On Human Writers vs. AI?

According to a chart I saw on X not long ago, it appears that there’s a larger percentage of human writers still working than you might imagine. These new numbers come from Ark Invest and were posted on X and a few other media outlets. While it showed that AI-written content has surpassed human writers for the first time in history by early 2026, other studies tell us that human-written online content is still within the 50% mark. 

Anyone who worked as a writer before the AI storm probably thought that 99% of all content you see on the internet was AI-written now. But, it seems it’s still possible for a human to get their written content into the digital world. The bigger question, though, is whether human writers can still get paid to get published, and if it’s a safer bet when AI is just taking from media that’s been thoroughly copyrighted.

As someone who still contemplates looking for private clients to at least do a little paid writing again, it’s worth diving in to see what the realities are.

Can Human Writers Still Get Paid?

Let it be known that every word you’re reading on this blog (including all past content) is written exclusively by me. I’ve never used AI to write a single thing yet, and I likely never will. Many writers I talk to now say they do a combination of creating something, then having AI tools edit it for them. What the end result is may or may not fully reflect the style of those human writers, even if they claim it does.

I’m not sure if working writers use those tools, and then get paid for their efforts. What I will say is that I’m not paid (yet) for writing this blog. I intend to monetize here soon, and I intend to make it all organic so my readership knows that it’s written by a human being. This may be the only way for writers to still make money where their own produced material still gets read while AdWords from Google pays you.

Writing for media outlets is another mystery. The above study from Graphite shows the 50% of AI-produced pieces are professional articles you read on media sites. What that means is, media sites are clearly saving money having AI software write many of their pieces. However, it doesn’t indicate what type of human writing out there is truly still being paid. It’s clear that movie critics and reporters for major newspapers are still writing and making a living. Who knows how much of what they’re writing is run through an AI filter, though.

It seems that if you’re already a valuable human writer for a major media company with notable credentials, you’re probably still working and may never be replaced. Then again, famous writers still writing political analysis or writing about entertainment may be replaced eventually when an AI program can replicate their writing to the letter. And that brings up whether our own writing persona should be trademarked so it’s protected in the event a company uses AI to replicate that style.

Nowadays, I feel fortunate I became a freelance writer when I did. It almost felt like it was perfectly timed so I could take advantage of the faster/lucrative internet era, then theoretically wind it up when AI took over the world. This still begs the question whether any human who wants to make money writing still can as the percentage of AI-written content continues to go up.

The Hope of Human Writing in the Next 10 Years

With the evidence showing at least some human writers are still creating content online (and presumably getting paid for it), the question of how long it’ll last stands out. I still entertain the idea of searching for private clients on LinkedIn, the source where I found nearly all my prior business-writing clients. Then I think about the self-employment taxes human writers still have to pay, something that gave me headaches for a long while. AI alone could eliminate the high tax bracket for creatives, even if humans would still likely be taxed if they’re controlling the AI bots to do their writing job.

Paying taxes is still worth it, though, just for the freedom of knowing we humans can work remotely and express ourselves through the written word. There seems to be some indication that the public is starting to tire of music being created by AI. While other evidence points to otherwise, there may be an eventual public backlash against AI taking over creative pursuits like writing. 

Then again, even writers don’t always love the process of writing. I actually do, and have no qualms about writing things since it seems to flow naturally. If there was ever a feasible and tax-friendly way to go back to writing, I would. For the next few years, it appears there’s at least a 40 to 50% chance of getting writing employment out there. By the 2030s, it’ll either be all AI or a gradual and larger push back to humans.

Based on things I’ve read written by AI, I can still tell it’s created by a bot. There’s certain key phrases that stand out, indicating it’s written artificially. It just seems it’s easier to scope out human writing, sometimes based on, yes, minor grammar mistakes made. That may be what people appreciate more than anything in making a written piece humanly conversational rather than overly formal.

If you want to do real writing in the online world, I invite you to at least try. The more you can prove yourself as a worthy human writer, the better in an employer wanting to retain you rather than replaced by bots. Some of the same sources I used as a freelance writer are still out there. One of those is my once longtime employer, Verblio, a contractor that hires writers to write content for businesses. However, they apparently use a combination of human writers with AI tools nowadays. 

Also, if you haven’t used LinkedIn as a way to find work, I highly recommend it. Sure, it’s a boring part of social media, and not everyone loves the way it’s designed. It’s still a great source for companies finding candidates for certain jobs. Get some good writing credits down in your resume, and it’s probably still possible to land a few writing clients there as I did over a decade ago.

Since this blog’s intention is to uphold and celebrate human creativity unmatched by artificial intelligence, consider this segment a continuing movement to see where human writing can actually go. The thing is, we have to nurture it now since leaning on AI to write everything will mean humans eventually losing all desire (or practice) in writing something compelling. 

In Part 6, I’m going to look at AI-produced music and how a recent #1 AI-made song seems to contradict surveys showing humans souring on AI-generated songs.

/End