Derek Thompson

Neither Picasso nor Jimmy Page had access to an external technology whose deliberate function was to slurp up musical elements from millions of songs, store their essence in silicon memory, and serve them up in a kind of synthetic stir fry on an order-by-order basis. Musicians have been writing music with partners for decades, even centuries.

But what happens to music when that partner becomes a machine? Will it open up new horizons in songwriting and composition? Or in a funny way, will superintelligence make the future of music more average than ever? I'm Derek Thompson. This is Plain English. Mark Henry Phillips, welcome to the show.

But what happens to music when that partner becomes a machine? Will it open up new horizons in songwriting and composition? Or in a funny way, will superintelligence make the future of music more average than ever? I'm Derek Thompson. This is Plain English. Mark Henry Phillips, welcome to the show.

But what happens to music when that partner becomes a machine? Will it open up new horizons in songwriting and composition? Or in a funny way, will superintelligence make the future of music more average than ever? I'm Derek Thompson. This is Plain English. Mark Henry Phillips, welcome to the show.

How'd you get into music?

How'd you get into music?

How'd you get into music?

And these days, how do you explain your job to someone, say, at a party?

And these days, how do you explain your job to someone, say, at a party?

And these days, how do you explain your job to someone, say, at a party?

Tell me about the first time you discovered an example of AI music that made you feel like this might be the beginning of a professional existential crisis.

Tell me about the first time you discovered an example of AI music that made you feel like this might be the beginning of a professional existential crisis.

Tell me about the first time you discovered an example of AI music that made you feel like this might be the beginning of a professional existential crisis.

So for people who don't know Toots, who don't know reggae outside of Bob Marley, what did we just listen to as a musician? What made you stand up and go... This is a little bit spooky. This threatens my professional ego.

So for people who don't know Toots, who don't know reggae outside of Bob Marley, what did we just listen to as a musician? What made you stand up and go... This is a little bit spooky. This threatens my professional ego.

So for people who don't know Toots, who don't know reggae outside of Bob Marley, what did we just listen to as a musician? What made you stand up and go... This is a little bit spooky. This threatens my professional ego.

You've said this technology has given you existential dread about your job. I want to provide a really clear apples to apples comparison of human work and AI work. So on the WNYC segment, you talked about scoring a scene where a couple is getting to know each other. And this is a cute, romantic, slightly goofy scene. Tell me what you did next.

You've said this technology has given you existential dread about your job. I want to provide a really clear apples to apples comparison of human work and AI work. So on the WNYC segment, you talked about scoring a scene where a couple is getting to know each other. And this is a cute, romantic, slightly goofy scene. Tell me what you did next.

You've said this technology has given you existential dread about your job. I want to provide a really clear apples to apples comparison of human work and AI work. So on the WNYC segment, you talked about scoring a scene where a couple is getting to know each other. And this is a cute, romantic, slightly goofy scene. Tell me what you did next.

And I heard Huckabee vibes too. Exactly. Is what I got from it. There's a goofiness. There's a bit of irony in it. You know, it's not the most straightforwardly sincere sound, if that makes sense. But there's a cuteness to it and a knowing winky cuteness to it is what I get from this soundtrack.