Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith criticizes the use of A.I. in music

Artificial Intelligence is changing almost everything in the world, and the music business has already changed significantly. There are already artists who do not really exist ranking on the charts with songs completely made by AI. Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith was asked about the matter and criticized the use of computers to create things without much effort. He told UnDinamo – La Última Radio de Rock that “people seem to be craving more reward with effort.”

Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith criticizes the use of A.I. in music

“No, I don’t like it. I don’t like it. I mean, people seem to be craving more reward with less effort. I think part of the enjoyment and the fun is the journey of getting there and the process and the struggle. It makes you feel good when you get it. If someone just gives you something, it’s all finished and done. And I think from our point of view, the albums that Richie (Kotzen) and I do are pretty organic. There’s no loads of overdubs. It’s just two guitars (and our) voices. A few overdubs, of course, (but we) try to keep it organic, keep the human feel.”

“A.I., it just makes me shiver. And when you hear about bands canceling gigs, ’cause they’ve lost their laptop computer — I mean, come on. The record industry is dying on it ass because of music streaming. People aren’t getting paid or can’t earn any money out music. Sure, you can make an album on your computer and anyone can make an album, so it’s kind of cheapened everything. There’s no struggle anymore. You used to have to save the money and work to buy one hour in the studio. It was so expensive.”

He continued:

“Yeah, it’s difficult for young bands now, difficult for young bands. I’m glad I was born when I was, because I got the best of both worlds. With Maiden, we can make the whole thing solvent by doing shows, but records are — it’s tragic. People expect it for nothing; they want music for nothing. They don’t wanna pay for it.”

“No way. I don’t know. I don’t even wanna think about it. I mean, A.I. What was it someone was telling me the other day? Somebody, as a birthday present or as a present to his friends, he had a song written by A.I. for each one of them, using their voice. And it’s just mind-boggling. It’s like the beginning of the end. I mean, social media’s bad enough. But this is just another level.”

“I can’t see it having any effect. I mean, even digital recording and Pro Tools now has enabled anyone to make up something that — you can present something that sounds respectable, but it’s all done by computers. At least I grew up old school where you had to actually play in the studio; you couldn’t tune it up afterwards. So that makes you more of a craftsman. Digital recording we use because it’s convenient and it saves time and it saves money,” Adrian Smith said (Transcribed by Blabbermouth). Smith/Kotzen already released two albums, the self-titled debut in 2021 and the second one “Black Light/White Noise” in 2025.