The Offspring frontman Dexter Holland believes that AI is “here to stay”.
- READ MORE: The Offspring: “We wanted to make a record that was quintessentially us, and we fucking nailed it”
Holland and bandmate Noodles recently appeared on the French radio station Oüi FM when they were asked what their stance on the technology is.
“I think [AI] is here to stay,” said Holland. “I understand that it’s very confusing and scary. And it gives people anxiety.”
“And the technology of it’s getting better where you [go], ‘Is that person really saying what I think they’re saying or is that just a projection or something that’s not real? And so that stuff we’re all gonna have to sort through, but I think it is here to stay.”
“And I think it will end up being like other kinds of technology where people can use it for good or they can use it for evil, and we’re gonna have to sort that out.”
They were then asked if they could imagine themselves ever using AI. “Oooh. Maybe I don’t have to be there. I could be at home watching TV,” joked Holland.
Noodles added: “Well, if we did, we would only use it to change a sound. I mean, we have different guitar sounds, chorus pedals, things like that, that change the sound of things.”
“So I think it would just be for that. And in that regard, I don’t think it’s a bad thing. When kids are using it to write term papers or bands are using it to try to write their own music… First of all, I think it’s gonna fall flat. I don’t think you’re gonna do well with that
“I love what Joe Walsh of James Gang and The Eagles said about it. He said he’s not worried about A.I. A.I. can’t throw a television set out of a hotel window. A.I. is not getting laid. Until A.I. can do that stuff, it’s not a problem, yeah.” Watch the interview in full below.
AI remains a contentious subject in the music world, with many musicians expressing concerns over the technology.
Recently, Cradle Of Filth‘s frontman Dani Filth said that AI was “shit” and “a bit of a problem”.
“It’s dangerous,” he told Metal Journal. “I mean, it’s gonna have benefits, yeah. Everything has benefits. There will be disabled people that will benefit from the use of AI. There’ll be historians and things that just do work for you that make it easy.
“But that’s not the point,” he added. “The point is, it’s soulless.”
In October, Radiohead‘s Thom Yorke, ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus and other industry figures signed a statement against using creatives’ work to train AI.
The statement, which you can find here, reads: “The unlicensed use of creative works for training generative AI is a major, unjust threat to the livelihoods of the people behind those works, and must not be permitted.”
It follows ongoing legal issues between the creative world and tech firms over the use of their work to train artificial intelligence models such as ChatGPT.
Among the 11,500 signatories from across the music, film, theatre and writing world pushing back against the use of intellectual property without permission are Billy Bragg, Kevin Bacon, Robert Smith, Julianne Moore, Kazuo Ishiguro, Ann Patchett, Rosario Dawson and more.
Dexter Holland performs live with The Offspring. CREDIT: PG/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty
Earlier this year, artists including Billie Eilish, Robert Smith, Stevie Wonder and Nicki Minaj signed an open letter warning against the “predatory” use of artificial intelligence (AI) in music, which was put together by non-profit organization Artist Rights Alliance. Read the full letter here.
In other news, The Offspring recently spoke to NME about their 11th album ‘Supercharged’, as well as their attitude towards early material and plans for the future.
“There was part of us that felt like it could be too much like our old material, like maybe we were being lazy or something,” Holland told NME. “But we decided to stop thinking about it in that hypercritical way. We decided ‘If it sounds good and it feels good, let’s just go for it’. We just wanted something that genuinely felt right for us.”
Noodles continued: “I felt that energy building even before the last record was finished, but then we had to release it in the middle of the pandemic, not being able to tour for a year and a half. Because of that, when we could finally get into the studio again we found ourselves starting to look at the songwriting in ways that we never had before.”
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