The Output #3: AI Skepticism Is a Clarity Problem

Hey,

Today’s newsletter is talking about the tension between creativity and AI, through a songwriting course I signed up for.

What surprised me was that a huge AI skeptic included an AI lesson in his course. It seems like a contradiction, but looking at it shows something else. AI skepticism is helpful when you don’t let it stop you from experimenting and creating.

What you gain is something unexpected.

Check out the full story below.

Cheering you on,

Shawn

Earlier this week I got an email from music Youtuber Rick Beato, announcing a deal for his online songwriting course. I ended up buying it and found a surprising lesson in the course.

Rick often talks about how AI is ruining music. Video titles like ‘I am sick of this AI crap’ or ‘ How AI will fail like the music industry’ give you a peek into his view about AI. He is worried about what AI will mean for professional musicians and artists, and the music industry as a whole.

Imagine my surprise seeing a lesson on using AI to help compose songs in his course. Is this hypocrisy, or something else?

Peering into the lesson, he shares that AI tools are inevitable, and demos two platforms to assist in composing songs. They both fail to follow his prompt, missing the stated key, tempo, and genre.

He points out how the prompt failed to follow instructions, and you can still get ideas from the tools for your song.

Use AI’s mistakes to inspire a new melody or phrasing in your song. He still is a bit skeptical of the tool and its impact on music. To quote the man:

“All these tools are derivative of other people’s works. These are to help you get ideas for your song, not to write the song for you.” Rick Beato

What I find interesting is the tension between his skepticism of AI tools in music and his pragmatic approach to AI tools because they exist. It allows musicians to use AI tools that support their creative work, while still being wary of replacing songwriters.

Which leads to this week’s big idea: Skepticism isn’t a problem. Unless it keeps you from experimenting.

A healthy level of skepticism can help you clarify your boundaries and rules. For Rick, AI is a tool that can help you find ideas for your songs. AI should not replace the songwriter, full stop.

For my business, I prefer to have AI prompt me to pull out outlines before writing, and to act as an editor that points out issues with my writing. AI should not write anything for me. So everything you’ve been reading today and the past year has been written by me. Assisted by ChatGPT or Claude. I use AI in this way because I don’t want to lose the creative skills and experiences you get from writing.

My philosophy is that using AI should make me a better creator. If, five years from now, I couldn’t use AI tools, I need to be a much better writer and thinker. Unaided.

My skepticism of what we lose when we outsource the creative parts of writing to computers led to personal rules and a more human-focused way to use the tech.

The Path To Safe Use Of Technology

This pattern isn’t new, either. AI is a new technology and we do not know how to safely and properly use it. It has huge potential, while also posing huge risks and dangers to society.

Think about the automobile for a second. When cars were invented in 1885, the world was horse-powered. Whole industries would die out in the next 50 years as people gave up blacksmiths for steel mills. Horse clean-up for car washes. Tons of grain for horse feed for barrels of oil.

Society also spent 100 years figuring out how to safely use cars. Things like traffic rules, highways, seatbelts, and car sensors all reduced the risk of death from using cars.

AI Helps Creators Find Clarity.

Rick Beato is still skeptical of AI replacing human musicians. He's also better at teaching songwriting. Both things are true.

We are all figuring out how to live with AI in our creative lives. But the core skill of a creator is still important: get clear on what and why you are building.

With a strong idea and reason, AI amplifies your ideas. Creating your unique point of view in multiple formats quickly helps you gain attention as a creator.

With a weak idea, or one sourced from AI, you are just noise in an increasingly noisy information environment.

What I'm paying attention to this week to feed my business and creativity.

Inside My New Notion Second Brain (Designed for AI) - Notion + AI implementation of the second brain. This caught my eye because I have been building up my knowledge management system using AI and notion. I have not used his lifeOD, so can’t say if it’s good either way.

Foo Fighters: Tiny Desk Concert - NPR music series with cool artist. I am a big fan of rock music transformed for acoustic environments, a la MTV unplugged, so seeing the Foo Fighters jamming (kinda) quieter was great and inspiring.

Music Theory for Songwriters - Rick Beato course about music theory and song structure. I’m an amateur songwriter, and this is helping me remember all the music theory I learned years ago. Great course, and partially relevant to today’s newsletter. Not affiliated with Rick or this course, but a fan of his content and teaching.

Before you go:

If your AI skepticism created healthy boundaries in your business or work, what rules would emerge? Reply to this email and let me know what you think!

— Shawn

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