Show Notes
AI music generators - platforms that use artificial intelligence to create new, original music from scratch - can make songs that are almost indistinguishable from human creations. For some musicians, they’re the next frontier in music-making technology. But for others, they represent a grave threat, flooding the world with low-grade AI music, stealing the jobs of working musicians, and even spelling the end of the creative process as we know it. Is this just technophobia, or is music facing AI annihilation?
In a new two-part series, the FT’s pop critic Ludovic Hunter-Tilney explores the emerging world of AI music, and the impact it could have on the industry.
Tech Tonic is presented by Ludovic Hunter-Tilney. The producers are Lulu Smyth and Josh Gabert-Doyon. Edwin Lane is the senior producer, Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. Manuela Saragosa and Topher Forhecz are the FT’s acting co-heads of audio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from FT Tech Tonic
Could AI help us understand ourselves and each other better? Writer and philosopher Alain de Botton speaks to the FT’s Madhumita Murgia about the challenges we face navigating human relationships, and how AI might be able to help. Recorded live at the FT Weekend Festival.
Murad Ahmed speaks to FT journalist Sarah O’Connor about her new book ‘We Are Not Machines’, which explores the impact AI is already having on workplaces. They discuss how Swedish miners dealt with the introduction of AI-powered vehicles, and how Czech translators found AI stealing the most creative part of their job. Recorded live at the FT Weekend Festival.
AI-related investments are now worth up to half of the entire value of the S&P 500. But is the AI investment boom a bubble waiting to burst? Tim Bradshaw, the FT’s global technology correspondent, speaks to Richard Kramer, founder of Arete Research, and Ophelia Brown, founder of Blossom Capital. Recorded live at the FT Weekend Festival on 5th September 2026.
At the Enhanced Games in Las Vegas earlier this year, athletes used performance-enhancing drugs and banned equipment in an attempt to break world records. At the same time, companies such as Adidas are designing new types of equipment that fall within the rules, but give athletes an edge. So where is the line between cheating and innovation?
Video-assistant refereeing (VAR) has proved to be one of the most controversial pieces of technology ever introduced in sports. But with the rise of everything from broadcasting gimmicks to data-driven gambling, it’s far from the only technology changing what it means to be a fan. The FT’s sports editor Josh Noble asks whether these advancements are making sport more fun to watch, or overshadowing the event itself.