Brian May claims “massively scary” AI could cause “evil”
Queen guitarist Brian May has described artificial intelligence as “massively scary” and suggested it could potentially cause “evil”.
The comments were made in the latest edition of Guitar Player, in a chat where May also discusses his expanded Star Fleet Project box set and the late guitarist Eddie Van Halen. Elsewhere in the talk, he was asked about AI and laid out the dangers he believes it poses for the music industry.
As artificial intelligence is a hot topic right now, especially its possible future role in music, May was probed upon whether he’d been involved with the technology.
The Queen guitarist replied: “It is, and my major concern with it now is in the artistic area. I think by this time next year the landscape will be completely different. We won’t know which way is up. We won’t know what’s been created by AI and what’s been created by humans.”
“Everything is going to get very blurred and very confusing, and I think we might look back on 2023 as the last year when humans really dominated the music scene. I really think it could be that serious, and that doesn’t fill me with joy. It makes me feel apprehensive, and I’m preparing to feel sad about this,” May commented.
He continued: “I think a lot of great stuff will come from AI, because it is going to increase the powers of humans to solve problems. But the potential for AI to cause evil is, obviously, incredibly huge – not just in music, ’cause nobody dies in music, but people can die if AI gets involved in politics and world domination for various nations. I think the whole thing is massively scary. It’s much more far-reaching than anybody realised – well, certainly than I realised.”
Meanwhile, during another recent interview, May named John Lennon as the one artist he regrets not having the opportunity to record with. The guitarist confessed: “I very seldom turn down a collaboration. A regret is that I didn’t get the chance to work with John Lennon. The Beatles didn’t always agree; they were always pulling and pushing.”
He added: “A bit like Queen and us. I think John would be such a stronger pusher and puller. You’d have to work really hard to keep up, to believe in your instincts. I could imagine us hitting it off.”
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