'Turn up the human'

In the latest episode of his Sirius XM series Close to the Edge on U2X, The Edge sat down with Kevin Parker of Tame Impala for a chat about life on the road and in the studio, sonic innovation and the "good news" about AI. 

He also challenged Parker to a nearly impossible round of musical "This or That": Beatles or Beach Boys, Brian Eno or Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder or Prince?

All such musical icons are master innovators, on stage and in the studio.

"Basically, every great music innovation has come from someone abusing a piece [of equipment], someone using something the way it's not meant to be used," Parker said. 

While working on Achtung Baby, Edge had precisely that kind of experience. 

"I couldn't get this great sound for 'The Fly'," he recalled, "so I was messing with the attenuation on this echo pedal, ended up putting it in a completely technically wrong configuration … I dunno what the impact would've been electrically, but it was pushing both the echo and the amp to a point of failure. I mean, God it was this incredible sound."

Has Parker ever "messed with AI", Edge wondered.

"Not with music," Parker said.

"You should. I've tried it. And there's good news because most of it is atrocious," Edge said. "It's just a homogenous version of what's already been written. But what the subconscious mind will do is it throw you something that's never been heard before."

"If we are living in the twilight of pure human creativity, then let's just enjoy it. Let's watch the sunset. Because you know, it's coming," Parker said.

"It's definitely coming. It's with us. But I have a suspicion that it will actually train our ears to appreciate human creativity," Edge said. "You'll be noticing the AI generated stuff because it'll sound robotic. It won't have that human quality."

Parker imagines AI will adapt to that, too. "'Hmm sounds robotic' and they'll be like, 'OK, turn up the human'. But he suspects AI won't have the last laugh. It's a bit like knock-off Gucci bags.

 "There are fake ones that no one can tell are fake, but they still don't want them because they're not the real thing," Parker said. "There are going to be great songs written by AI but no one will give a shit because we'll know they're not [human]. It'll say it on the tin: 'AI'. 

"Hopefully there will always be people who are like, 'I just want authentically human stuff even if it's a bit crapper', Parker said. 

"More human," Edge added. "We relate to the person that made the work. That's why I so love live concerts because you're actually seeing people doing something extraordinary in front of you."

Edge recalled U2's tenure in Las Vegas—including dropping in at a local karaoke bar where no one recognized him—and playing Sphere in a show where live performance was closely tied to digital artwork but ample room still was left for (human-made) surprises each night. 

"The audio quality was incredible. Not just for the audience, but for us as well," Edge said. "You knew every night you're gonna hear perfectly and you knew what to expect. So, in that sense it was a lot of fun. But we're looking forward to getting out on the road and I think hopefully next year we'll get to meet our fans where they are."