AI Leaves Zac Brown Band’s John Driskell Hopkins ‘Terrified’

John Driskell Hopkins of the Zac Brown band performs onstage during the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas, Nev., on Sept. 21, 2019. Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Musician John Driskell Hopkins is weighing in on the increasing debate surrounding artificial intelligence (AI), expressing fear of the technology’s impact on the future of humanity.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, the founding member of the Zac Brown Band shared that he is terrified of new technology and its use for detrimental purposes.

The 52-year-old pointed to an example he recently saw of a woman and a chatbot in which the technology was manipulated into saying harmful things.

The woman specifically asked AI to say deceitful things about her, and when the chatbot refused, the woman altered her wording, leading the chatbot to comply.

“It went into this ridiculous amount of convincing, slanderous stuff. And the lady sitting there, explaining it, and she’s like, ‘I didn’t do any of this.’ And she started feeling bad about what ‘AI’ was lying about,” he said.

When asked if he was worried about how AI would impact the music scene, Mr. Hopkins said he is more concerned about how it will affect the world.

“At the end of the day, someone wants to come see another person singing and playing on stage. You can’t ‘AI’ that. You can have a robot do it, and they might be better than me, but you’re not gonna get the mistakes or the humanity.”

AI technology is a computer system that aims to build machines capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. By definition, it allows machines to match, or even improve upon, the capabilities of the human mind.

Mr. Hopkins noted that AI will only get “exponentially faster and smarter” and joined a growing list of other industry celebrities who have spoken out against the technology.

Recently, singer Meghan Trainor expressed she was “scared” of AI, going as far as to add a clause in her will prohibiting anyone from using the tech to recreate her voice following her death.

Earlier this month, over 200 recording artists signed an open letter denouncing the usage, calling the technology an “enormous threat to our ability to protect our privacies, our identities, our music, and our livelihoods.”

ALS Diagnosis

Mr. Hopkins, a strong proponent of the arts, says he hopes society will continue to embrace humanity through music and talent rather than becoming dependent on or preferring AI technology.

He has remained dedicated to his career and pursuit of the arts despite being diagnosed with ALS back in 2021. While his condition is progressing “very slowly and very evenly,” it is beginning to impact his musical abilities.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, is a disease that affects the nervous system within cells in the brain and spinal cord. ALS causes loss of muscle control, eventually affecting the muscles needed to move, speak, breathe, and eat.

According to the Mayo Clinic, the exact cause of the disease is unknown, with genetics amounting to 10 percent of its risk factors. Unfortunately, there is no cure for the fatal disease.

As a result of his diagnosis, Mr. Hopkins launched the nonprofit Hop On A Cure in hopes of finding a cure.

He noted that the answer is in research and that the organization is committed to finding ways to prevent, reverse, and cure ALS while “raising awareness, building a compassionate community, and unleashing the healing power of hope.”

Mr. Hopkins will be joining the Zac Brown Band on their 2024 tour alongside country singer Kenny Chesney.

He admitted he is active during rehearsals despite sometimes needing to take a “step back.” Overall, the three-time Grammy Award winner is grateful to be back on stage.

“Honest to God, I’m just grateful to be sitting here talking to you two years later, almost two and a half years later, and not be in a wheelchair,” he told Fox.

Meanwhile, the tour is set to kick off in May.