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'It was fun at first, not anymore': UAE artists push back against rise of AI-made music
From cloned vocals to fully generated songs, musicians and producers warn that AI is blurring the lines between creativity, authorship, and imitation
- PUBLISHED: Wed 6 May 2026, 2:47 PM
A familiar voice sings a brand-new song online. The delivery sounds real, the emotion feels human, and the production is polished enough to fool listeners. But the artist behind the microphone never actually recorded it.
As AI-generated music floods platforms like YouTube, musicians and producers in the UAE are beginning to question where creativity ends, and imitation begins.
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The debate has intensified following new rules announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, clarifying that AI-generated performances and writing will not qualify for Oscar consideration. While the film industry begins drawing clearer boundaries around authorship, artists said the music world remains largely unregulated.
For Dubai-based R&B band The Tasty Biscuits, the shift from novelty to concern happened quickly.
“Honestly, it went from feeling funny and kind of cool to deeply unsettling pretty fast once we learned about how these AI models are trained,” said band members Reuben Edenojie, Dana Naidu, Caleb Egwu, and Milton Mushuna.
“People started using it to pose as real artists, and there are so many cases of that now. That’s where it stopped being a novelty and started being a real problem.”
The group stressed that while AI can assist artists, it should not replace them.
“AI can be a creative tool, but we have to understand what that means. It’s not here to do things for us, it’s here to assist us,” they said, citing tools like stem splitters that help isolate instruments or remove vocals as examples of technology improving workflow.
However, they drew a firm line at fully AI-generated artists and albums.
“Using AI to create music from scratch, package it as an artist, release albums, and collect streaming revenue, that’s where we draw the line,” they said.
“There are real cases of people with no musical ability whatsoever prompting entire albums into existence and profiting off streaming, while musicians who hired real players, wrote real songs, and poured real money into their craft can’t even break even.”
The band also described AI voice cloning as “next level unsettling,” adding that artists may soon need to trademark distinctive vocal styles as protection.
Dubai-based producer Tac El-Mohandes, founder and head engineer of Parking-Lot Geniuses, said his initial reaction to AI music was amusement, but that quickly changed once he saw how accessible the technology had become.
“What I didn’t expect was how accessible it would become,” he said. “Now almost anyone can generate a song in seconds and receive validation for something they didn’t necessarily spend years learning or developing.”
For Tac, the concern is not just copyright, but the loss of artistic growth and originality. “The artists being fed into these models did their 10,000 hours. That’s the whole point,” he said.
“Everyone’s 10,000 hours looks different, and that’s what creates new music. Large language models are finite in their output. It’s a self-fed beast that will churn out the same thing over and over till there’s no originality left.”
He believed AI-generated tracks should not compete directly with human-made music on streaming services.
“These songs should not be on streaming platforms. They should not be allowed on charts with organic music,” he said.
Dubai-based DJ, Collin Weaver also believed AI is accelerating an existing problem in the industry.
“I personally think the rise of AI music drowns out a lot of originality,” he said. “I think it’s been happening before AI, but it’s definitely accelerated it.”
Still, he acknowledged that some musicians are using AI in productive ways.
“I’ve met musicians who use it in cool ways to complete awesome ideas,” he said, adding that he could see himself using AI for technical improvements such as mixing, mastering, refining bass lines or improving chord progressions.
Comparing AI tools to the introduction of the sync button in DJ culture, Colin said technology can open new creative possibilities when used responsibly.
“It’s a great tool,” he said. “But it’s also being abused.”
Waad Barakat is a Special Correspondent covering security topics, from law enforcement to local courts. With a keen eye for human interest stories, she hopes to blend it all with unique Gen Z-inspired content.