“I Don’t Think Hank Done It This Way”

Country music is not, of course, the only genre susceptible to AI fakes.  A Dutch anti-immigration song entitled “No, No, No to an Asylum Center” has since topped Spotify’s global charts.  One study estimates that 34% of the songs uploaded onto streaming services are AI-generated.

This is also happening with books, especially with  children’s books , science fiction, romance novels, and other kinds of genre fiction.

Amazon will put up AI-written books as long as there is disclosure; otherwise, the site will take the books down, but it’s almost impossible to police this.  Another category of AI-generated books is a parasite on legitimate titles. Whenever a new release become popular, according to the Authors Guild, AI-generated study guides, summaries, and other auxiliary products pop up on Amazon.

The problem is not just with AI technology.  Only when art forms become formulaic can they train a Large Language Model to imitate them.  Our popular culture–whether music, books, or films–has become cliché-ridden, conventional, predictable, and non-expressive, making it ripe for technological takeover.

Country music has always traded on its sense of authenticity and emotional honesty.  “Country music is the place to find reality in music,” said Taylor Swift, who got her start in the genre, “and reality in the stars who make that music.”  “Country music is what is sincere,” said Garth Brooks; “that’s the main thing.”  The great country music songwriter Harlan Howard defined the style as “three chords and the truth.”

So that’s why a song without authenticity, emotional honesty, reality, sincerity, or truth hitting the top of the country charts especially hurts.

Then again, the so-called “country music industry” has brought some of this on itself.  For a long time, country music traditionalists have been complaining that Nashville has sold out, emulating commercialized pop music, downplaying musicianship in favor of studio-generated fare with drum machines and automatic tuning, and abandoning its musical roots.

Waylon Jennings complained about this in his song “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?”, contrasting the great Hank Williams, Sr., with what was dominating the charts in his day.  He and others, such as Willie Nelson, would try to rekindle that authenticity and musicianship in the so-called “Outlaw country movement.”  Listen to Waylon make his case with his song and his example:

And if you want to see how Hank done it, watch these rare TV clips from the admittedly hokey country TV shows of the 1950’s.  (Note the chemistry in the third number, the duet with Anita Carter of the legendary Carter Family.  Note also how her big sister June Carter, later to marry Johnny Cash, takes over the corny square dance with her comic flare.  And notice the last number in which the whole cast joins in with Hank’s fervent Christian song that he wrote, “I Saw the Light.”)

And if you don’t appreciate Hank Williams after that, I can only turn you over to Kris Kristofferson, who wrote this song after supposedly breaking up with a girlfriend because she didn’t like Hank Williams.

Notice how other people are involved in this music.  Kris Kristofferson and Johnny Cash grinning with astonishment at how well Waylon is playing his guitar.  Everybody on set joining in as Hank Williams sings “I Saw the Light.”  You yourself as you watch and listen to these videos.  You are interacting with the artist.  There is a communal dimension to music and the other arts.  A human dimension.

Illustration:  Breaking Rust via Wikipedia, Public Domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=81599501.  With the telling note:  “This file is in the public domain because it is the work of a computer algorithm or artificial intelligence and does not contain sufficient human authorship to support a copyright claim.”  A work of art needs “sufficient human authorship”!