Nick Cave may have started to soften his stance on AI after filmmaker Andrew Dominik used it to bring still images of Elvis Presley to life for a music video of the Bad Seeds song “Tupelo”. But as of a November 2026 post on his blog The Red Hand Files, that may have just been because Dominik was also a friend. Cave is back to condemning generative AI in all its forms, but specifically when used for songwriting.
In response to a reader-submitted question about his stance on AI, Cave admitted that he’s not quite sure about the future of artificial intelligence. Really, no one knows for sure how the technology will affect global society moving forward. If it will “save the world, annihilate it, or do something in between,” as Cave wrote.
“But song generator platforms are, in my view, indicators of this nascent technology’s demonic potential to hollow out human endeavor and sever our connection to the divine,” Cave continued.
Nick Cave May Have Changed His Mind About AI For a Little Bit Last Year, But He’s Back to Opposing it Full-FOrce
Back in July 2025, Nick Cave admitted that changing one’s once-rigid opinions could be a sign of strength. These comments came in response to a fan-submitted question asking if changing an opinion is a sign of weakness. They were also related to Andrew Dominik’s “Tupelo” film.
“As I watched Andrew’s surreal little film, I felt my view of AI as an artistic device soften. To some extent, my mind was changed,” Cave wrote. He admitted that the footage was “uncanny”, as the video used AI to make still images move. But he also found it “deeply affecting”.
However, Cave’s overall stance on AI in songwriting has become rigid once again. He’s been in strong opposition of the technology for several years. Barring the near-change of heart in 2025, it looks like he still is.
“[AI song generators] mock creation itself by rendering humanity unnecessary, taking the fruits of human striving and reducing them to mere products. It is, perhaps, our final, most soul-destroying humiliation,” Cave continued.
AI Platforms ‘Promise to Rid the World of Artists Altogether,’ Says Cave
Another fan-submitted question added another layer to the conversation. Cave then addressed the concept of separating the art from the artist, which he said was not possible. “They are as inseparable as the waves from the sea they rise from,” he wrote.
But AI platforms have muddied those waters. “With the advent of song generation platforms, the thorny issue has been upended,” he wrote. “At last, the artist can be separated from the art. Not just that, the artist—that flawed, messy, broken, woeful, joyful problem—can be removed from the equation altogether, like so much dross.”
Cave then singled out the AI platform Suno by name, calling it “the Great Cancellator”. This platform, he wrote, “which has never loved or laughed or grieved, never experienced joy or loss or heartbreak, never felt boredom or its adjacent epiphany, produces an imitation of the soul—a song—in fifteen seconds flat. This is an affront to any songwriter who has lived and struggled in this world and earned the right to create a song.”
Concluding this issue of The Red Hand Files, Cave returned to the separation of art from artist. In the context of AI platforms, this concept goes a step further. It completely obliterates the need for an artist at all.
“For those eager to rid the world of problematic artists—for these censorious forces remain persistent—it is surely cause for celebration, as these platforms promise to rid the world of artists altogether.”
Photo by Don Arnold/WireImage
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