Billy Corgan has vowed to never use artificial intelligence to create music, insisting that it would be a “deal with the devil.”
The Smashing Pumpkins frontman made the declaration during an appearance on the podcast And the Writer Is…, even bringing up the topic himself.
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“You didn’t ask me, but I’m gonna make a declaratory statement,” said Corgan. “I refuse, refuse, patently refuse to use AI in my music creation. Because, to me, it’s a deal with the devil. Simple. Whether it’s the Promethean fire myth or whatever, to me you’re literally leaning into the thing that will destroy you. Period. So that’s why I’m not gonna mess with it, because the pressure, the inspiration, the soul searching, the ‘I’m not sure I got anything else to say,’ that’s all part of the journey that a songwriter needs to go to.”
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He continued, “Now, if it was the guy in my band or somebody I met through my friend Shooter Jennings or whatever, and we’re writing songs together, that’s a real person with real feelings and real blood coursing through their veins. And maybe someday we’re gonna argue about a publishing split. But if we’re arguing, it means there’s something of value that we’re arguing over.”
The alt-rock veteran went on to say that part of the songwriting process is the imperfection that comes with it, noting, “I’m saying it’s good that a songwriter has a doubt, it’s good that a songwriter’s not sure they have anything left to say, it’s good that a songwriter has to think of a new chord that they haven’t thought of. That’s where the magic comes from, and until that is proven otherwise, I’m sticking with the game I’m in.”
As far as his “deal with the devil” comment, Corgan elaborated, “We’re flirting with the thing that will destroy us as an economy, as a business, as a movement. We’re asking to be eradicated. We’re giving them our information. They already have all our other information. God knows what the labels are doing. Am I gonna get a check someday for 62 cents? Is that coming? But I’m saying, on a spiritual level to lean into it is to ask to be wiped out. You’re asking to be wiped out.”
Corgan’s thoughts on AI don’t end there. He goes into more detail in the podcast, which can be seen and heard below.
Meanwhile, the Smashing Pumpkins have signed on to play Lollapalooza in their hometown of Chicago in July, and the Darker Waves festival in Huntington Beach, California, in November. Pick up tickets here.