Boy George reveals he uses AI to write songs

Boy George has admitted to using AI for songwriting.

On Fearne Cotton's Happy Place podcast, the English singer said that the practice has really helped him as a lyricist.

"You're not working with anyone else," he said. "You don't have to worry even for two seconds about what they think. I'm a top-line writer, so I write top-line melodies. All the people I work with send me tracks, and I'll just sit with them, and I'll just play it and play it.

"I have fantastic conversations with ChatGPT. And I'll say: ‘Oh, those lyrics are crap. That's not what I would say.’ You know what I mean? But, actually, you can train it."

Last year, the lead singer of pop band Culture Club also used AI to re-record vocals for some of his biggest hits, including ‘Karma Chameleon’. The musician did this to circumvent issues regarding the ownership rights of the original recordings of the tracks.

Other musicians share Boy George's opinion on the use of AI, such as Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler, who admitted to using the technology to "bring all the lyrics out".

However, many artists, including Elton John, Kate Bush, Paul McCartney, and SZA, have spoken about the ramifications of the use of artificial intelligence, especially in creative industries.

Many platforms have taken measures to fight the use of this technology. Apple now lets users know if they are listening to music that was made with AI. Bandcamp has banned all AI-generated tracks.

"We reserve the right to remove any music on suspicion of being AI-generated," said Bandcamp.

Elsewhere, Spotify has started to crack down on the use of AI, removing 75 million "spammy tracks" and targeting impersonators.