Paul McCartney Clarifies AI Use in ‘New’ Beatles Song: ‘Nothing Has Been Artificially Created’

Paul McCartney
Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

Paul McCartney took to social media to clarify that artificial intelligence (AI) was not used in a “new” Beatles song. “Nothing has been artificially created,” he said.

“Been great to see such an exciting response to our forthcoming Beatles project,” McCartney began in a tweet published Thursday. “No one is more excited than us to be sharing something with you later in the year.”

“We’ve seen some confusion and speculation about it,” the musician continued. “Seems to be a lot of guess work out there.

“Can’t say too much at this stage but to be clear, nothing has been artificially or synthetically created.”

“It’s all real and we all play on it. We cleaned up some existing recordings – a process which has gone on for years,” McCartney added. “We hope you love it as much as we do. More news in due course.”

McCartney was responding to the public’s speculation following his announcement earlier this month that a “new” Beatles song has been created with the help of AI.

In a June 12 BBC interview, McCartney had said AI “has great uses,” adding, “when we came to make what will be the last Beatles record, it was a demo that John had that we worked on and we just finished it up.”

“We were able to take John’s voice and get it pure through this AI, so that then we could mix the record as you would normally do,” he added. “It gives you some, sort of, leeway. So, there’s a good side to it and then, a scary side. And, we’ll just have to see where that leads.”

This comes as others in the entertainment industry express concern over AI and the impact it may have on writing, music, movies, and art, among other things in the future.

File/1st November 1963:/Original caption/Two members of Liverpudlian pop group The Beatles, John Lennon (1940 – 1980), singer and guitarist, left, and Paul McCartney, singer and bass guitarist. (Fox Photos/Getty)

Earlier this year, Hollywood star Keanu Reeves said deepfake digital face edits are “scary,” and confirmed that his film contracts ban digital edits to his acting. “It’s a system of control and manipulation,” the actor said of AI.

Meanwhile, Hollywood went on shut down when the Writers Guild of America (WGA) enacted an industry-wide strike, citing, in part, concerns regarding AI technology.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.

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