This Is the Worst Part of the AI Hype Cycle

Earlier this week, Paul McCartney sent the music-nerd internet ablaze with some news: Artificial intelligence had helped resurrect a bit of John Lennon's voice for a new Beatles song, more than four decades after his death. The song is set for release later this year and comes from vocals Lennon recorded on an old demo. "We were able to take John's voice and get it pure through this AI," McCartney told BBC Radio 4, "so then we could mix the record, as you would normally do." The reaction this elicited on WIRED Slack channels was somewhere between "cool" and "gross." Using AI to resurrect Lennon for a new song has its appeal, but given the recent ethical questions around using the technology to make fake songs from artists like Drake and The Weeknd, it also feels icky.