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For the first time since a 2013 stroke left country singer Randy Travis unable to speak or sing properly, he has released a new song. He didn\u2019t sing it, though; instead, the vocals were created with AI software and a surrogate singer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The song, called \u201cWhere That Came From,\u201d is every bit the kind of folksy, sentimental tune I came to love as a kid when Travis was at the height of his fame. The producers created it by training an unnamed AI model, starting with 42 of his vocal-isolated recordings. Then, under the supervision of Travis and his career-long producer Kyle Lehning<\/a>, fellow country singer James DuPre laid down the vocals to be transformed into Travis\u2019 by AI. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Besides being on YouTube, the song is on other streaming platforms like Apple Music<\/a> and Spotify<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The result of Warner\u2019s experiment is a gentle tune that captures Travis\u2019 relaxed style, which rarely wavered far from its baritone foundation. It sounds like one of those singles that would\u2019ve hung around the charts long enough for me to nervously sway to once after working up the gumption to ask a girl to dance at a middle school social. I wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s a great<\/em> Randy Travis song, but it\u2019s certainly not the worst \u2014 I\u2019d even say I like it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Dustin Ballard, who runs the various incarnations of the There I Ruined It social media account, creates his AI voice parodies in much the same way<\/a> as Travis\u2019 team, giving birth to goofy mash-ups like AI Elvis Presley singing \u201cBaby Got Back\u201d or synthetic Johnny Cash singing \u201cBarbie Girl.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It would be easy to sound the alarm over this song or Ballard\u2019s creations, declaring the death of human-made music as we know it. But I\u2019d say it does quite the opposite, reinforcing what tools like an AI voice clone can do in the right hands. Whether you like the song or not, you have to admit that you can\u2019t get something like this from casual prompting<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Cris Lacy, Co-president of Warner Music Nashville, told CBS Sunday Morning<\/em><\/a> that AI voice cloning sites produce approximations of artists like Travis that don\u2019t \u201csound real, because it\u2019s not.\u201d She called the label\u2019s use of AI to clone Travis\u2019 voice \u201cAI for good.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Right now, Warner can\u2019t really do much about AI clones that it feels don\u2019t fall under the heading of \u201cAI for good.\u201d But Tennessee\u2019s recently-passed ELVIS Act<\/a>, which goes into effect on July 1st, would allow labels to take legal action against those using software to recreate an artists\u2019 voice without permission.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Travis\u2019 song is a good edge-case example of AI being used to make music that actually feels legitimate. But on the other hand, it also may open a new path for Warner, which owns the rights to vast catalogs of music from famous, dead artists that are ripe for digital resurrection and, if they want to go there, potential profit. As heartwarming as this story is, it makes me wonder what lessons Warner Music Nashville \u2014 and the record industry as a whole \u2014 will take away from this song. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n