Ron Maxwell “Stop Making AI Music”
STOP MAKING AI MUSIC – Reflections on Creativity, Technology, and the Stories Worth Telling
That’s what she told me. In fact, it was the very first thing she said.
I had just released a Memorial Day-Veteran’s honoring music video honoring the men and women who served our country. It was inspired by a simple sign I noticed on a veteran’s garage door: “All Gave Some, Some Gave All.”
Then came the comment: “Stop making AI music.”
I didn’t know this person. We had never met. Yet there it was, a strong opinion delivered before a single question was asked. As I walked away, I found myself thinking about what she was really asking me to stop.
Should I stop using computers?
Should I stop using digital audio workstations?
Should I stop using color correction software?
Should I stop using motion stabilization?
Should I stop using noise reduction?
Should I stop using modern video editing tools?
Should I stop using the technology that restored old black-and-white films and brought history to life in color?
Where exactly is the line?
The song she was referring to did involve AI-assisted tools. But AI didn’t notice the sign on the veteran’s garage door. AI didn’t decide the story was worth telling. AI didn’t spend months gathering footage.
The project involved months of gathering footage long before a single lyric was written. It included flying drones, shooting video, researching locations, securing permission to use certain footage, and carefully selecting visual elements that supported the story. In a few cases, AI-generated images were created and then brought to life using animation software.
From there came the real work, placing those elements on a timeline, adjusting motion, color, contrast, timing, and pacing to create the desired emotional impact. It wasn’t unusual to spend an hour or more refining a scene that would ultimately appear on screen for only a few seconds.
Like many creative projects, the audience sees the finished result. What they don’t see are the countless decisions, revisions, and hours invested behind the scenes to bring the story to life.
The lyrics began with a human idea.
Like many songwriters, I spent hours refining concepts, shortening lines, rewriting phrases, changing words, and searching for the best way to communicate the story. Thousands of words were exchanged during the creative process. In many respects, it wasn’t all that different from what happens when two or three songwriters sit around a table collaborating on a song.
The AI-assisted platform helped generate musical possibilities. From there, stems were downloaded, separated, remixed, equalized, compressed, mastered, and shaped into something that supported the message I wanted to communicate.
The goal was never to sell music.
The goal was never to compete with artists.
The goal was to tell a story.
The music was never the destination. It was simply one of the vehicles used to bring the message to life and communicate it with greater impact.
And that made me think about something else.
Technology has been assisting creative people for a very long time.
Photographers embraced digital cameras.
Editors moved from razor blades and tape to computer workstations.
Film studios adopted computer-generated special effects.
Audio engineers embraced digital recording, noise reduction, pitch correction, and mastering software.
Every generation has experienced technological change.
Every generation has had people who welcomed it and people who feared it.
And every generation has wrestled with the same question:
Where does the tool end and the artist begin?
The real question isn’t whether the tools changed. The real question is whether the human creativity behind them has disappeared. Certainly, not every use of AI involves the same level of human involvement. Someone can type a simple prompt, click a button, and accept whatever is generated. Some critics have labeled that approach “AI slop.”
But that wasn’t my experience.
For me, technology became part of a much longer process of writing, revising, editing, refining, and shaping a message. The tool contributed to the process, but it didn’t replace the creative decisions that ultimately determined the outcome.
In my experience, the more powerful the tools become, the more important human judgment becomes. Because technology can help create the story. But it still takes a human being to decide which story is worth telling.
If there is one encouragement I would offer to fellow creators, it is this:
Don’t let the tool become the creator.
Whether it’s AI, editing software, a camera, a synthesizer, or a computer workstation, every generation has been given new tools. The challenge has never been deciding whether to use them. The challenge has been learning how to use them well.
Master the tool.
Don’t let the tool master you.
Let it amplify your vision, your passion, and your creativity, not replace them.
At the end of the process, technology should serve the message, not become the message.
The most meaningful creative work still begins with a human heart, a human experience, and a human desire to communicate something that matters.
The tools will change. The responsibility of the storyteller never does.
And perhaps that’s the best place to end.
At its heart, this project never began with the question, “How can I create a song about Memorial Day?” Rather, it began with a different question: “How can I best honor the men and women who served our country and the families who paid the price for that service?”
The tools came later. The story came first.
And at the end of the day, people rarely get wrapped up in what software was used to create something. They remember how it made them feel.
For me, that is how the fruit of a project like this is measured.
I was truly humbled by the response, especially from veterans and from families who understand the sacrifice behind the words:
“All Gave Some, Some Gave All.”
Watch the Memorial Day Video
Ron Maxwell serves as President of Christian Music Preservation Project®, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to preserving and promoting historic Christian music recordings. He has worked in Christian radio since the 1980s, including serving as a national music director and morning host for Moody Radio. Contact Ron at communitynetradio@gmail.com
