At the first US AI Music Awards, a computer-generated R&B act won everything

The first AI Music Awards ceremony held in the US took place Friday night in downtown Los Angeles, honoring songs made at least partly with AI. 2

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Xania Monet, an AI-generated avatar best known for the rhythm-and-blues song How Was I Supposed to Know?, took all three top prizes: artist, song and album of the year. 2

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Attendees said the point of the night was to show there are humans behind AI music and that AI is a creative tool. 2

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Telisha "Nikki" Jones created Xania Monet, and says every one of its lyrics is hers, with AI used to set them to music. 2

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The wins have commercial weight beyond the ballroom: per Billboard, How Was I Supposed to Know? was the first song by an AI-based act to land on one of Billboard's radio charts. 2

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A vote by the AI acts themselves

The winners were not chosen by human critics. Members of the Sonic Intelligence Academy, a company that built AI music charts and tools for spotting AI-made songs, voted, and those members are AI artists. 2

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Inside the room, presenters and winners argued that AI music should be treated as a new genre, one that takes real artistry and hours of prompting. 2

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Plenty of nominees said they carried stories they lacked the musical skill to set, and saw AI as the tool that brought the songs to life. 2

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The fight outside the ballroom

The celebration is happening while the industry around it is in open conflict. Record labels are suing AI companies, Anthropic and OpenAI among them, saying copyrighted works were used to train their models without permission. The Elvis Presley estate has filed suit too; the companies point to fair use. 2

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Musicians worry AI songs crowd out human artists and take work from producers, singers, engineers and songwriters. 2

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"I just feel like AI music is a new thing that people just have to get used to," Jones said. "I don't see it going anywhere anytime soon." 2

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AI music has picked up millions of streams and chart placements along the way, and just as much criticism. 2

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AI's presence in music-making goes back to the 1950s, but recent generative tools have split industry opinion. 2

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Along the way, AI music has picked up millions of streams and chart placements, and just as much criticism. 2

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