Right here’s how I’m utilizing AI in my music enterprise:

I’m not. Finish of publish. Bye bye. So long.

…

Okay, that was a Shrek reference, and relatedly, I’m simply kidding – about ending the publish there, not a lot about my utilization of AI instruments.

Regardless of the hype, I haven’t actually adjusted any of my processes to account for the wonderful-creepy-magical powers of synthetic intelligence.

I did attempt, for a few minutes.

After I (together with the remainder of the world) found ChatGPT final fall, I signed up for a subscription service that promised to jot down Web optimization-optimized articles. It was fairly magical, not going to lie; all you needed to do was give the software program a immediate, push a couple of buttons, and voila! – you bought 2,000 phrases of bullshit.

I cancelled my subscription an hour after signing up.

I’ve additionally performed round with a number of the AI options which were baked into virtually each software program I take advantage of. I’ve tried AI-generated CSS in my web site builder, I’ve created AI-powered article briefs in my job administration system, and I’ve listened to Spotify’s bizarre, however admittedly form of cool, AI-voiced DJ. (Extra on this one other time, perhaps.)

A few of it has been helpful (I’ve significantly loved the coding stuff), however most of it has felt gimmicky, and little of it has legitimately saved me time.

Don’t get me improper. I’m not saying that AI isn’t a game-changer, and I’m undoubtedly not saying that I prevented the existential disaster of watching a pc write higher prose than me. If I ever pause to think about how properly AI will write throughout the subsequent 12 months (not to mention the following decade), I freak out.

And if I ever take into consideration how all this tech goes to converge – music era, speech era, video era, the flexibility to obtain sensory inputs – I begin to hyperventilate.

However I’ve come to the choice that I need to write for Two Story Melody for so long as people will learn it.

It’s not as a result of I feel I’m a greater author than AI. I imply, I do suppose that as of July 17, 2023 A.D. – however I additionally suppose it’s doubtless that AI will surpass my capacity by this time subsequent 12 months.

No, I consider it form of like this:

A short while in the past, for no good motive, I watched this click-bait YouTube video through which a man named Stephen paid a good-looking mannequin to attend his highschool reunion and fake to be him.

It’s a reasonably humorous idea (go forward and watch it if you happen to’re up for losing the following 20 minutes). The mannequin form of appeared like Stephen, besides they had been extra engaging. And the mannequin had the identical hobbies as Stephen (music / guitar), besides they had been extra proficient.

The plan was for Stephen’s mannequin to dazzle everybody in dialog, rip a sick guitar solo throughout a reside music efficiency, then head off into the night time, leaving Steven’s classmates satisfied that within the 10 years since commencement, he’d gotten method cooler.

What really occurred was {that a}) Stephen’s previous buddies didn’t consider the actor was really Stephen, and b) Stephen’s previous buddies needed to hang around with the true Stephen moderately than the mannequin.

It’s not that the actor wasn’t extra spectacular than Stephen; he was, in just about each method.

It’s simply that actual relationship required the true Stephen.

What I’m getting at is that this:

I received’t use AI to jot down for a similar motive I received’t pay an actor to take Alli out to dinner. It’s not as a result of I’m objectively the best choice for the job, however as a result of I love to do it myself, and it’s good for me, and it’s how I construct precise connection.

As I wrote about AI beforehand, my perception is that simply because synthetic intelligence can do one thing higher than you (write, make music, take your spouse out to dinner) doesn’t imply you shouldn’t do it.

Somebody’s at all times been capable of do the factor higher than you, anyway. The purpose was by no means to be one of the best at one thing; the purpose was to get higher at being your self.

To make clear, I don’t suppose it’s essentially unhealthy to make use of AI – for writing or for different issues. I’m simply explaining why I’ve chosen to not.

That mentioned, whereas I’m not likely utilizing AI, I’m accounting for the way it will change my business.

A lot of the site visitors to Two Story (and accordingly, most of my income) has come by natural search – individuals looking out on Google and discovering an article that we’ve written, then perhaps shopping for one thing or opting into our electronic mail record. Chances are high good that that’s the way you discovered me.

However AI is poised to drastically change how natural search works.

Bing’s already received their chatbot in-built, and Google’s about to roll out one thing they’re calling “generative search,” which principally signifies that the principle consequence for search queries can be an AI-generated reply.

Lengthy-story-short, the site visitors to Two Story is in severe jeopardy, which implies my income is, too.

I noticed that coming the primary time I noticed ChatGPT, and I’m planning to stability it out in two methods:

1. I began a YouTube channel to construct one other stream of site visitors exterior of natural search. Possibly this can be jeopardized by AI avatars subsequent 12 months, however at the least for now it’s received a wider moat.
2. I’m leaning extra closely into my very own services and products than I’d deliberate to a 12 months in the past, as a result of Google’s AI search outcomes are likely to favor product and repair suppliers above content material suppliers.

(Technical facet notice if you happen to’re : The best way this works is that if you happen to seek for, say, “Spotify promotion service,” you used to see my article analyzing 13 completely different companies, which introduced in round 5,000 guests a month – however quickly you’ll see an AI reply that summarizes a bunch of articles like mine and offers you the service choices upfront. This may strip a variety of the site visitors from my article, however the AI reply will really ship site visitors to the companies themselves. Ethical of the story is that if I need to keep site visitors / prospects, it is sensible to lean into services and products.)

I’d be mendacity if I mentioned I knew precisely how this can all play out.

Possibly my gambles will work; perhaps they received’t.

However the level is that I’m not treating AI stuff as baseless hype. I’m doing my finest to adapt, and hopefully thrive, in an AI-crazed world – even when I’m not utilizing the know-how a ton in my very own processes.

All proper, that’s all I’ve received for this one.

Unsure if that stream of consciousness was in any respect useful for you as an artist / music marketer, however I figured it could be at the least considerably attention-grabbing.

Right here’s wishing you an amazing remaining summer time earlier than Skynet takes over.