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Is AI Ruining Music? | Dustin Ballard | TED

What makes music “real” — is it the instruments, the voice, the creator’s intention or something else entirely? Dustin Ballard, the creative force behind the viral channel “There I Ruined It,” explores the weird, wonderful and sometimes unsettling ways AI is reshaping music. With fiddle solos and AI-powered mashups of your favorite songs, he invites…

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What makes music “real” — is it the instruments, the voice, the creator’s intention or something else entirely? Dustin Ballard, the creative force behind the viral channel “There I Ruined It,” explores the weird, wonderful and sometimes unsettling ways AI is reshaping music. With fiddle solos and AI-powered mashups of your favorite songs, he invites us to ask: Are new tools fostering creativity, or just making noise? (Recorded at TED2025 on April 10, 2025)

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69 Comments

69 Comments

  1. @HueThachch

    August 21, 2025 at 11:17 am

    this feels like a meme but also deep 💖😘

    • @TheCoolJavelin7

      August 21, 2025 at 12:52 pm

      Bot

  2. @BestBusinessBook

    August 21, 2025 at 11:21 am

    We have interesting book summaries about this topic 😉

  3. @anthonydauer

    August 21, 2025 at 11:25 am

    No one’s image or voice should be allowed to be used by anyone or anything else without their explicit permission. If we do not own ourselves, we own nothing.

    • @AnnieB-v8j

      August 21, 2025 at 7:53 pm

      I think some of these folks have sold out to get $$$ for use of their voice/likeness, but I can’t say for sure….

    • @anthonydauer

      August 21, 2025 at 8:04 pm

      @@AnnieB-v8jthat’s not “selling out” that is being asked to use your intellectual property and being compensated for it. That’s receiving explicit permission to use it.

    • @AnnieB-v8j

      August 21, 2025 at 8:21 pm

      @@anthonydauer In many minds, and by some definitions, ‘selling’ one’s ‘attributes’ for someone else to use as they wish with questionable (out of one’s creative control) motivations and ‘products’ (like those in this video), for personal financial gain would be considered a compromise of artistic integrity, therefore ‘selling out.’ Peace.

    • @anthonydauer

      August 21, 2025 at 8:45 pm

      @@AnnieB-v8jthat’s how most performing artists eat… it is their careers

    • @AnnieB-v8j

      August 21, 2025 at 9:00 pm

      @@anthonydauer Respectfully disagree when it comes to AI and artistic integrity.

  4. @HappySlappii

    August 21, 2025 at 11:26 am

    I guess “appropriation” is okay as long as it’s a computer? I imagine the white speaker wouldn’t know this, but country blues was made from music slaves sang.

  5. @davidbell7491

    August 21, 2025 at 11:47 am

    I think I’m starting to be able to hear the difference. I was primed to distrust the sample anyway but it felt too straight for the time they were asserting.

    • @markmanderson

      August 21, 2025 at 1:56 pm

      wish everyone could, just look at most performers prancing around yet holding a perfect tune, its called miming 🙂 Ais just a step above the age old con, at least some of the ai music is quite amusing, like oops i glued my b**lls to my b***ole

  6. @StayVCA98

    August 21, 2025 at 11:52 am

    This AI on the Artistry World is just won’t work, some supporting doesn’t mean it is accepted wholeheartedly, esp on things like Music and Traditional Art where it NEEDS an actual Human touch of its creation, not lazily prompt it and calls it a day… 🙃

    • @freesounds7517

      August 21, 2025 at 12:56 pm

      It will when that generation dies out.

  7. @davidbell7491

    August 21, 2025 at 11:58 am

    12 -tone / prepared piano / “New” music composers were way ahead on this. It turns out western tonality being largely “solved”, is ripe for algorithm generation. You can’t quite reproduce 4’33 with AI, and by the composition itself, you shouldn’t want to.

  8. @studyireland

    August 21, 2025 at 12:06 pm

    Maybe, but most likely it’s Spotify.

  9. @lyrosepl

    August 21, 2025 at 12:12 pm

    When was he ever going to admit that creation requires energy and commitment?
    Instead of giving lectures, he should be doing stand-up comedy for AI investors.
    Who’s gonna feed the models if nobody plays isntruments eventually ? It’s a dead end.

  10. @kinsmed

    August 21, 2025 at 12:23 pm

    Humor in the Talks gets/holds my attention.

  11. @shalxnda

    August 21, 2025 at 12:33 pm

    It’s ruining everything.

    • @BeverlyCrowNS

      August 21, 2025 at 8:48 pm

      This is why I’m going full analog !

  12. @freesounds7517

    August 21, 2025 at 12:53 pm

    The music industry ruined music long before AI came about. The same with most of the creative industys when they stopped being Creative

  13. @Stue-e

    August 21, 2025 at 12:57 pm

    Pretty hilarious that a video about AI ruining music and there’s 20 comments on the video as i write this, and 1/4 of them are Bots with butt profile pictures

    • @hanno_lehtiniemi

      August 21, 2025 at 4:58 pm

      Right, and the slightly more advanced bots have windows clippers as profile pictures instead. I’ve been seeing them a lot lately. Stay vigilant, haha.

      Of course the GPT4/5 level models we can no longer even spot, as long as they keep their comments brief, though many would like to believe otherwise.

      Interesting times.

    • @Muhammadhamzamdha

      August 21, 2025 at 5:54 pm

      Me: gets sick Also me: googles symptoms for 3 hours instead of seeing a doctor because insurance.

    • @Stue-e

      August 22, 2025 at 12:16 am

      @@hanno_lehtiniemi FYI the clippy profile picture are part of a collective movement towards right of ownership, its a form of protest that points out that clippy never data mined your information, he just offered help with no ulterior motive aside from assistance.

      That apparently clicked a nerve with you, and im sorry you feel that AI slop is indistinguishable from real human expression.

      interesting times indeed.

    • @hanno_lehtiniemi

      August 22, 2025 at 1:57 am

      ​@Stue-e Yes, I know.

      I was going to include something along the lines of “I definitely don’t mean to offend you, rather I’m saying this as I believe you to be able to see the irony, and thus hopefully also find it funny.” In my previous comment.

      My bad! I should have not tried my luck with that one 😊

  14. @boy638

    August 21, 2025 at 12:58 pm

    It took a TED Talk for the face reveal.

  15. @danibernd

    August 21, 2025 at 1:45 pm

    nice to see ai slop on ted talks

  16. @burgerbarn5000

    August 21, 2025 at 1:51 pm

    AI “music” is for AI “Listeners”..

  17. @Garlicnaan08

    August 21, 2025 at 2:03 pm

    Should have shown the faces of the masses would have been more fun after all ^^

  18. @Garlicnaan08

    August 21, 2025 at 2:03 pm

    Should have shown the face of the masses would have been more fun after all ^^

  19. @clarinetsaxist

    August 21, 2025 at 2:36 pm

    It is awesome to read all these negative and lame comments from people who are so easily maddened, depressed, and in despair over a technology and the creative uses of that technology. There is one thing AI can’t take from you, and that is your faith, your hope, your mindset. Except it seems to be doing that. At least, Dustin Ballard is one of the people actually showing creativity with the technology… most people who complain about creatives using AI have probably never created anything. The last time I checked, there are still music classes and music schools, and AI isn’t changing that.

    • @soldfuture_

      August 21, 2025 at 3:31 pm

      sounds naive, I bet ai can take your faith and hope. Just wait till it gets to something you care about

    • @stevenhymowech9931

      August 22, 2025 at 12:20 pm

      So, when a majority of music is “created” by AI and things become even more homogonized as a result, and you go to see musicians perform that music in lieu of songwriters, you’re good. Because that is definitely we’re this is heading.

  20. @SashaGracanin

    August 21, 2025 at 2:58 pm

    AI in some manner exists already for decades in music business and the formulaic way of making songs for the masses has been prevalent since the Beatles. Just check the software “Band in a Box”, which exists already for 35 years…

  21. @CriticalNuance

    August 21, 2025 at 3:06 pm

    Yes. No need to watch the video.

    • @unCoopervised

      August 21, 2025 at 7:43 pm

      It’s fascinating and very well done.

  22. @fatewillcome

    August 21, 2025 at 3:45 pm

    Ai is theft of real musicians work taken without compensation or permission !
    Real music is created with human brains and learning a craft of songwriting! This theft must be stopped by lawmakers in all countries!

  23. @francoestrubia6503

    August 21, 2025 at 5:28 pm

    This is so stupid.

  24. @Muhammadhamzamdha

    August 21, 2025 at 5:54 pm

    Healthcare in America: $200 to be told to drink more water and get some rest!

  25. @ProviderNow

    August 21, 2025 at 5:58 pm

    Me: gets sick Also me: googles symptoms for 3 hours instead of seeing a doctor because insurance.

  26. @JenniferJaws5283

    August 21, 2025 at 6:41 pm

    The people creating false content on the feed of individual devices are not only ruining music, but my faith in a collective! Enough is enough!

  27. @WhereJohnFrum

    August 21, 2025 at 9:47 pm

    This video is simultaneously hilarious and one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever experienced.

  28. @Toxicflu

    August 21, 2025 at 11:09 pm

    This guy adds effort and artistry. AI is just a tool. But it’s because of his effort and artistry that he will shine through all the brain rot out there. Ai can be great, if created with effort.

  29. @BackuPacnt-t7w

    August 22, 2025 at 12:02 am

    “MUSIC”
    Ever seen what qualifies as “music” nowdays…

    Open youtube
    How about you look up WAP

    Such diversity
    So stunning so brave
    Music for yah…

    Rmemeber ai is only as good as the training data

  30. @onemoreguyonline7878

    August 22, 2025 at 12:27 am

    Lol I knew who this was before jumping into the comments. What a wonderful YT channel this guy runs.

  31. @gamer4vr638

    August 22, 2025 at 12:29 am

    Proud of you my man

  32. @TheeGabrielAndrew

    August 22, 2025 at 12:53 am

    Disappointing

  33. @MrDerbi13

    August 22, 2025 at 4:25 am

    I must say, all samples that were played didn’t sound that great.

  34. @c.j.1089

    August 22, 2025 at 8:25 am

    FINALLY, I can watch this ted talk NOT on ted’s worthless streaming site.

  35. @odelldaniel7868

    August 22, 2025 at 11:38 am

    music has lost the human element, I have played for 40 years and I cant get into any of this new garbage

    • @cutsleeve117

      August 23, 2025 at 7:33 am

      or you can watch the actual video and figure out that this is explicitly touting human expression instead of throwing everything to AI

  36. @thokozanimanqoba9797

    August 22, 2025 at 5:29 pm

    😂😂😂😂 he made his point! And he used AI to enhance his performance about AI and people loved it including myself😂

  37. @captureimagery

    August 22, 2025 at 11:55 pm

    I’m not impressed by anyone who built a song by AI.

  38. @drapersmith2140

    August 23, 2025 at 1:53 am

    This man has taken the scariest thing humans have created and made it more approachable than a toddler he will go down as a you tube legend and may be the pioneer of the ai music producers.

    • @ConfiteorDeo420

      August 23, 2025 at 2:57 am

      Something tells me you’re getting the wrong message out of this.

      This guy is only trying to demystify and advocate for creative uses of AI-assisted content. It’s not the same as using prompts to generate music from scratch, such as what he showed in the very beginning of the video.

      His point was that there are ways AI can make you more creative, but his emphasis is on the human expression involved. The AI is there to help make the artist’s vision come true, rather than generating music according to a set of instructions so you can plaster your name on top.

    • @drapersmith2140

      August 23, 2025 at 1:41 pm

      ​@ConfiteorDeo420 why did you feel the need to write me a book, im not stupid he litteraly says everything you said here😂

  39. @samari6191

    August 23, 2025 at 2:24 am

    Was this presentation set to the tone of weird al yankovich?

  40. @urbanstrencan

    August 23, 2025 at 7:06 am

    AI is everywhere

  41. @LxftRxght

    August 23, 2025 at 8:10 am

    BIG UP, THERE: I RUINED IT! ✊

  42. @AdityaMehendale

    August 23, 2025 at 10:16 am

    …But where’s the whistle?

    • @BlueBoy0

      August 23, 2025 at 1:27 pm

      10:47

  43. @tylerlanigan3866

    August 23, 2025 at 3:53 pm

    AI music is created by exploiting all of the music that musicians have made without proper compensation. I’m all for AI models, but they should trained on artists work that have agreed and been paid for it.

  44. @HomeyKhann

    August 23, 2025 at 4:03 pm

    Copyright protection of music is two things. The physical recording and the intellectual property. If a musician feels violated, they will need to copyright their voice too. Jess Harnel was sued for sounding too much like Journey and lost.

  45. @NoFantasy

    August 23, 2025 at 4:17 pm

    I’ve started thinking of this guy as the modern Weird Al – which made me wonder… will he (Dustin) ever make a song using Al’s voice? Would that be “Al-AI”?

  46. @cjwalker8701

    August 23, 2025 at 5:20 pm

    As for right now, the music, the AI musicians sound, hollow and weak.

  47. @cjwalker8701

    August 23, 2025 at 5:24 pm

    I also think that many of these AI companies and just media in general in one instance allowed this to happen and much like a 10 year-old who gets the keys to a car doesn’t know how to drive and immediately crashes into a wall. And I think the worst defenders are advertisers because basically they have almost no skin in the game as far as hey should we make this safe or reliable?

  48. @amarkhaira

    August 23, 2025 at 5:33 pm

    When I make music I have it created in my head. Then I would look for instruments of which I can create what I hear in my head. But A.I makes it easier and quicker to create each instrument playing that part. One might say it’s not music because it’s made by A.I. But it is real because I was the first to hear it in my head

  49. @Darkanight

    August 23, 2025 at 6:44 pm

    Holy mother of Gawd

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