It’s not about how music is made. It’s about how it makes you feel.

What is it we’re really listening to, and why does it matter?

Many people feel uneasy when they discover a song they enjoyed was created with the help of AI. And sure, it’s a valid reaction. But it raises a deeper question: do we always know, or even care, who made the music we enjoy?

Just a thought: was the bread you had this morning baked by hand, or by a machine? Was the milk in your coffee milked manually, or pumped through a modern dairy system? Was your last paycheck calculated by hand or by software? When you watched that Disney movie, did it move you any less just because the characters were made digitally?

In so many areas of life, we embrace technology without questioning authenticity. But when it comes to art, we hesitate. Because art is emotional. It’s personal.

But here’s something we tend to forget. AI-generated music isn’t made by a machine. It’s made through a machine, by a human. And just like anyone can generate an image using Midjourney or ChatGPT, the difference lies in how well you know what you’re doing. An image created by someone with no visual training often reveals its flaws (unless they got really lucky). But when a professional photographer uses these tools with skill and intent, the result might go that extra mile. You might not even realize it wasn’t shot with a camera.

It’s the same with music. The result depends on who’s guiding the process, not just the tool itself.

We’ve been here before.

When KORG released the M1 synth in the late ’80s, people said its piano patch sounded just like a real piano, maybe even better. The organ patch? Just like a real organ, but cooler. (For example, the bassline in Robin S’s “Show Me Love.”)

It wasn’t the end of music. It was the start of something new.

AI music might not be the downfall of human creativity. It might just be a new instrument, waiting for us to learn how to use it well.

Because in the end, what matters most is this: did it move you? Did it make you feel something?

As the legendary producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis once said: There’s good music if you listen.

And maybe that’s the real challenge. Not just for artists and platforms, but for us as listeners. To stop scrolling, to stop skipping, and really listen. Good music doesn’t always have to be new. Sometimes, the most rewarding choice is to revisit a song by Billy Joel. Or, why not, Münchner Freiheit (didn’t see that one coming, did you?).

We don’t have to settle for mediocrity just because it’s convenient.

We can choose music that stays with us.

AI cannot imagine. It only recreates from data. From what already exists.

We humans, on the other hand, are strange enough to invent new ideas, good or bad.

And maybe that’s what makes us special.

We are Yaygoo.

We create. Sometimes with the help of AI, but never because of it.