AI helped a musician with Parkinson's finish his new album when he could no longer play guitar [View all]

AI helped a musician with Parkinson’s finish his new album when he could no longer play guitar
By MUSTAKIM HASNATH
Updated 5:26 AM PDT, May 30, 2026
https://apnews.com/article/ai-song-generator-musician-parkinsons-ac2a6ed263256c12f68eb827f7e8238a

Samuel Smith spent years writing songs with a guitar in his hands.
Now, the London-based singer-songwriter is using artificial intelligence tools to help him continue making Americana music after Parkinson’s disease largely took away his ability to play guitar.

Smith, who was diagnosed with the progressive neurological disorder in 2020, recently released his second album, “The Art of Letting Go.” For one of the eight tracks, an instrumental piece titled “Horizon,” he relied on platforms that use AI to generate music to create demo arrangements that would convey his vision to the musicians who recorded the song.

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Generative AI has divided the music industry, whose artists and record labels have complained of their copyrighted work being used to train the models behind AI-powered music tools. Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Records sued Suno and Udio in June 2024, although Universal later reached a settlement and partnership deal with Udio and Warner did the same with Suno.

Less discussed is what those platforms can do when employed by a serious musician like Smith, whose disease affects the tools central to his songwriting and identity as a guitarist: his hands. He released his debut album, “In the Springtime,” in 2023, saying he wanted to give his two sons a way to remember when he could perform and record music himself.

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more at the link

The key quote from Smith is this:
“AI is not replacing anything for me, it’s unlocking, it’s enabling. It’s allowing me to keep writing. I upload my lyrics; AI doesn’t create my lyrics. I upload my music; AI does not create my music.”

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Here is a counterpoint to the AI as a malevolent force theme. The key point is that the artist is in control and is using the AI to complement his physical capabilities as opposed to just creating random new music.