AR Rahman defends decision of using AI in music

AR Rahman used AI (Artificial Intelligence) to recreate the voices of two late singers, Bamba Bakya and Shahul Hameed for a song titled Thimiri Yezhuda in Rajinikanth's Lal Salaam. The decision drew some flak and the musician was also criticized. 

In a new interview with India Today, the musician opened up about the topic and said how technology must be used 'to our advantage is not firing people but improving their lives'.

Speaking with India Today at the music launch event for The Goat Life, A R Rahman said, "I feel AI could also be used in uplifting. All the generational curses we have can be eradicated, and we can uplift the poor and educate and nurture leaders in the field of art and science. And because now they have the tools, they do not need to study for many years. What required four to five years earlier is now a prompt away."

He further added that one needs to be very cautious in the use of these technologies so that it does not take away the jobs of people involved in the industry.

He said, "I think the best way we can use it to our advantage is not firing people but improving their lives and nurturing them. As leaders, and as employers, sometimes we have to be very, very careful that no job should go."

"We should use it in a way where we fill the void of things that need time. Even with art, if you are producing something, imagining the journey is so easy now and one can take it to a different level. We need to use it as a tool to step up and speed up things and not fire people," he added.

Earlier this year in January, Rahman had given his clarification via an X post. It read, "We took permission from their families and sent deserving remuneration for using their voice algorithms ..technology is not a threat and a nuisance if we use it right…(folded hands emoticon)." 

Singer Bamba Bakya has collaborated with Rahman on many songs. The singer died in 2022 due to a cardiac arrest. Meanwhile, Shahul Hameed died in a car crash in 1997, near Chennai