As the rise of generative AI sparks understandable concern amid both the gaming community and developers, various industry icons are making their stance on the matter clear – including Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu, who sees no place for the technology in music.
Speaking in a new interview with JASRAC Magazine (as translated by Automaton), Uematsu shares his thoughts on advancing technology in game development. "There's been a surge of graphical advancements in games in recent years," admits the composer. "But in terms of game music, I feel like it already reached its 'final form' when musicians became able to use their studio recordings in games."
He then discusses specific advancements, including binaural audio, which Square Enix has already applied to titles like Final Fantasy 10. "However, it is a question of how much players are going to demand it in the future," he explains. As for other potential progress within the industry, Uematsu suggests musicians might improve how smoothly they swap from sound to sound – and "perhaps AI will be able to handle something like that well in the future."
The composer then sheds light on his own opinion regarding the use of generative AI while producing music – something he hasn't done himself, and likely won't ever. "I've never used AI and probably never will. I think it still feels more rewarding to go through the hardships of creating something myself. When you listen to music, the fun is also in discovering the background of the person who created it, right?"
That's an experience you just can't get with generative AI, as Uematsu states. "AI does not have that kind of background, though. Even when it comes to live performances, music produced by people is unstable, and everyone does it in their own unique way."
He concludes that, "what makes it sound so satisfying are precisely those fluctuations and imperfections" – and you might not be able to achieve those without the human touch, so to speak.
Although I'm not a musician myself, I am a writer, and I have to agree with Uematsu here. There's just something about the creative process that generative AI simply can't seem to nail, whether in game development, music production, writing, or you name it.
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