The use of artificial intelligence in album art has been a bit of a hot-button issue among musicians lately, so much so that some are going out of their way to make it clear that AI was not used in their creation.
Killswitch Engage bassist Mike D’Antonio, who also handles the majority of the band’s artwork, addressed allegations of AI being used for the cover art of their forthcoming album, This Consequence. The band’s ninth album, set to release on Feb. 21, does not feature cover art created with the help of AI, D’Antonio insists.
“The cover art was not done by AI, no matter what people are saying on the Internet,” he told Australia’s Jaimunji. “I killed myself making that fricking cover art, so don’t tell me I just typed some words into a computer and it popped out, ’cause that’s… eight months later, that’s not what happened. It took ten thousand photos and a lot of time. So, I just wanted to put that out there.”
“I guess I should be flattered that people think it’s so good [that it could have been generated using AI],” D’Antonio went on to say. “But I’m not. I hate it. I don’t wanna be associated with AI.”
He then added, “Other people can do that. I’m fine with it. AI is just a whole new form of artwork. People can’t afford it or can’t be creative, they should definitely go gravitate towards that stuff. It’s not for me. I’m an artist. I should be able to do my own shit. And that’s what I do.”
It’s unfortunate that D’Antonio has to defend his hard work against unfounded AI accusations, but it is starting to become more common. In late 2024, Dutch progressive death metal band Pestilence caused a controversy over the AI-generated cover for their new album, Levels of Perception.
The band’s frontman, Patrick Mameli, hit back at critics of artwork, writing in a since-deleted Facebook post: “When you want to survive in the nowadays industry you have to adapt and Pestilence has always been known to look ahead and never fall back into the old habits not just music style wise but every other new release has had a new approach to our own musically, unlike most acts that rely on their older legacy,” Metal Injection reported.
Ultimately, wherever you fall on the debate, it’s clear that AI-generated imagery in music isn’t going away, and it’ll probably get more prevalent, but, in some way, that makes the real art matter more.
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