AI artist makes Billboard, sparking divide in music industry

(NewsNation) — Xania Monet has become the first AI-powered virtual artist to debut on a Billboard airplay chart, sparking debate over the technology’s presence in the music industry.  

Monet’s hit “How Was I Supposed to Know?” appeared on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart in 30th place on Nov. 1. While the song has performed well, singers and listeners are left divided over whether virtual artists like this open the door for AI to replace human performers.

Telisha Nikki Jones is the creator of Monet. In an interview with CBS Mornings that aired Wednesday, the 31-year-old from Mississippi defended her creation, saying Monet is an extension of herself. Jones, a poet, said Monet’s lyrics are made from poems she has written about her own life experiences. She told CBS she takes lines from her poems and puts them into an AI music generator app, and then adds prompts to create the songs.

“Whether it was stuff I went through, a close family member, or a close friend, I wrote about it,” Jones said. “I just feel like AI … it’s the new era that we’re in. And I look at it as a tool, as an instrument, and utilize it.”

But not everyone agrees. People Magazine reports Grammy-nominated singer Kehlani has spoken out against virtual artists: “Nothing and no one on earth will ever be able to justify AI to me.” She added, “I can’t paint so I’m not going to create AI paintings and sell them, taking up space from up-and-coming painters.”

Bill Werde, a former editorial director of Billboard, told “Morning in America” that while there is some unease around the rise of virtual artists like Monet, there is something beautiful about it as well.

“I honestly think there’s something beautiful,” Werde said. “This woman is a poet, and she’s been spending her whole life writing poetry, hearing music in her head, and these tools are finally enabling her to bring her vision to life.”

Werde said he doubts that virtual artists will replace human artists anytime soon.

“AI has been affecting Japan. It’s been affecting Korea,” Werde said. “A couple years ahead of us, you have artists that have charted in these countries, and it hasn’t turned into this, you know, sort of groundswell of suddenly, now everyone is an AI artist, it remains sort of more of a curiosity, and I think that’s what you’re going to see in the States as well.”