London-based singer-songwriter Samuel Smith released his second album, “The Art of Letting Go,” in 2024 after using artificial intelligence tools to overcome the loss of guitar-playing ability caused by Parkinson’s disease. Smith was diagnosed with the condition in 2020, and its symptoms—including tremors, stiffness, and fatigue—impaired his capacity to perform during the more than one year he spent working on the album.
Unable to play guitar as he once did, Smith turned to AI platforms like Suno and Udio to help realize his musical ideas. For the instrumental track “Horizon,” he hummed melodies into his phone to generate demo arrangements. Although the AI-generated demos were not included in the final studio version, they allowed him to communicate his vision to session musicians. “AI is not replacing anything for me. It’s unlocking, it’s enabling. It’s allowing me to keep writing. I upload my lyrics; AI doesn’t create my lyrics. I upload my music; AI does not create my music.”
Smith emphasized that producing convincing demos required extensive effort, often “50, 100, 150 attempts” and extensive editing to match his musical style. He added that the AI output helped him convey his ideas clearly: “It then brings it to life in a way that I can play to session players and say, ‘Here, that’s what I’m thinking, that is what I’m hearing.’” Despite his physical limitations, Smith played a guitar duet with Grammy-nominated guitarist Julian Lage on “Horizon” during a rare 10-minute window when his arm temporarily improved in the studio. “I hadn’t been able to play for months, but I kept telling myself that if I wrote something to take to the studio, perhaps the clouds would part for a few minutes. That’s what happened. I had a window of about 10 minutes in the studio when my arm freed up. So in the end, I was able to capture the last breath of my guitar playing.”
Ruaidhri Mannion, a composer, music producer, and sonic artist who teaches at Brunel University of London, said in a podcast interview that AI tools could democratize music-making similarly to how digital recording software did in recent decades. “If these tools are able to enable people to be able to participate with other creative groups and encourage more people to feel confident to be able to reach out to an ensemble or an orchestra or something, then I think that is all for the better.” However, Mannion also cautioned that overreliance on AI might interfere with the trial and error essential to musical development, noting, “What makes a lot of music-making meaningful is the collaborative element. There’s a lot of experimentation and development and failure that’s part of musical discovery.”
Smith believes his experience shows how AI, if developed responsibly, could expand creative access. “My message would be that if these companies want to show they’ve got a place, a role in society, then step up. Engage with health professionals, engage with music therapists, engage with society and show us what you can do.”