Country Pop Star Walker Hayes Worried About AI and Music Industry

Walker Hayes performs at Ascend Amphitheater in Nashville, Tenn., on June 23, 2023. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

Country pop singer-songwriter Walker Hayes has expressed his concerns with artificial intelligence (AI) and what it means for the future of the music industry.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, the 44-year-old said he was stunned by the quality of an AI-produced song, making him appreciate the era of creativity.

“I’m really glad I was born when I was born when creativity was needed. I heard an AI song the other day by an AI group and everything, and I’m telling you, it can outwrite me any day.”

Mr. Hayes, best known for his song “Fancy Like,” is no stranger to the process behind making top-charting hits, but was left comparing his skillset to AI.

“I’m not going to sit here and pretend I could out-create it,” he confessed.

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. Hayes went on to question what the future looks like in a world of AI technology and whether or not the need for human talent will continue.

“Honestly, it makes me wonder, when you take the necessity for humans to create out of the world, I don’t know if I want to see what the world looks like then, I think that’s when we’re all just sitting and not moving, and we only talk, and we’re just lying in a bed. So, I got to tell you, it weirds me out.”

Despite his qualms with the advanced tech, Mr. Hayes continues to keep his faith in God and humanity.

“I think God made us creative. I think every human is creative. We created AI. That’s how creative we are. It’s a mind-bender when you think about it,” he said.

Walker Hayes visits SiriusXM Studios in Nashville, Tenn., on Feb. 1, 2024. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

The singer joins a growing list of other musicians speaking out against the technology, such as Ed Sheeran, John Driskell Hopkins of the “Zac Brown Band”, Meghan Trainor, and others.

Mr. Sheeran echoed Mr. Hayes’ sentiment, calling AI “weird” and far too complex.

“If you’re taking a job away from a human being, I think that’s probably a bad thing because … the whole point of society is we all do the jobs and the whole thing. If everything is done by robots, then everybody is going to be out of work,” he said in an interview last year.

Ms. Trainor expressed that AI left her so “scared”, she went as far as to adding a clause in her will prohibiting anyone from using the tech to recreate her voice following her death.

Mr. Hopkins shared that he, too, is terrified but noted that while music can be recreated, performance can not.

“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,” he said.

In April, 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.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Hayes is continuing his live performances and is currently on his “Same Drunk” tour. He will be in Ohio this weekend for the 2024 Country Rumble Music Festival.