Welcome

Dear Reader,

When I heard that an AI-generated song called "Walk My Walk" [1] had climbed to number one on the country music chart, I knew that it was my professional responsibility as an IT journalist to tune it in and listen. I should clarify – despite the reports on social media, the song isn't exactly the most popular country song in the world. It rose to number one on Billboard's Country Digital Song Sales chart [2], which means it is number one for people who still buy and download digital copies of songs. For the people who get their music on Spotify and other streaming platforms (which is most people today), the song isn't even in the running. Still, to rise that high on any kind of chart, the song must be doing something right – you would think. Perhaps it is, at least algorithmically. Having listened to the song, I am thinking the prompt for this ditty was not "Write a good country song" but was something more like "Write a country song that will rise to number one." If you've ever listened to country music, or for that matter, any popular music form, you will understand that these two prompts can lead to very different results.

The song appears to be one of those "me against the man" songs, where the protagonist defiantly proclaims that he won't be kept down by (who, it isn't clear) some kind of oppressor – the government, the establishment, tradition, corporations, the woke masses. The appearance of the video, with a bearded country guy in a big cowboy hat, and the raspy twang of his voice (folks, I'm from Kansas, so don't accuse me of being anti-twang) conjure up images of the classic rural vs. urban "Country Boy Can Survive" motif [3], which has been popular with politicians as well as music producers for a generation.

The lyrics of the song, however, are so generic that they could apply to anything. "You can kick rocks if you don't like how I talk / I'm muuanna [going to] keep on talking and walk my walk." The song could as easily be sung by a Palestinian refugee, a trans kid, or an immigrant in the grips of an ICE interrogation.

"You can kick rocks…" is a memorable part. I think it means something like "You can jump in a lake…" or "You can…(sorry, can't say it)…yourself." That's the sound of a computer insulting you. "You can kick rocks if you don't like how I talk…" I know I'm supposed to feel chastened, like I've just been shown a middle finger, but I'm actually thinking, "Kicking rocks sounds kind of fun – if they are small enough, or if I'm kicking them down a hill, or someplace where they will roll nicely."

I don't know where this phenomenon of AI-generated music is going, but I'm sure this won't be the last track in the news. I have no doubt that one of these will climb the charts again, but hey, there have always been bland, generic popular songs – in all genres – that were written to check the checklist for popularity rather than to communicate original meaning in a way we associate with art. I'm quite sure AI will fill this niche very well, but will it replace our musical treasures? Listening to "Walk My Walk," I'm more confident than ever that human artists won't disappear anytime soon.

When I heard this song, I couldn't help thinking of the argument between Dr. Samuel Johnson and James Boswell over George Berkeley's theory of subjective idealism, as recounted in Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson [4]. As Johnson famously demonstrates, when faced with something that you know is BS but you can't quite explain why, what do you do? You kick a rock.

Joe Casad, Editor in Chief