Creator behind There I Ruined It parody music shares his views on AI

Dustin Ballard, the brains behind AI parody music YouTube channel There I Ruined It, has given a TED talk about the ethics of using the tech.

The There I Ruined It channel has over one million subscribers, and features weird and comical takes on hit songs, remade by Ballard using the help of AI. He calls some of his creations “monstrosities”, and says he “loving destroys” tracks known by many. His creations have even been shared or spoken about online by the original artists featured in them, such as Snoop Dogg and Nicki Minaj.

In his TED talk, Ballard asks if music made with AI can qualify as “real” music, and argues for a more balanced view of its use when in the hands of real artists.

Ballard says the question ‘what is real music?’ is a historic one that has come up in regards to sampling, the use of synthesisers, and even with the birth of the phonograph. He quotes composer John Philip Sousa (Ballad describes him as “the Taylor Swift of his day”), who said that recorded music was “a substitute for human skill, intelligence and soul” and that phonographs “reduce the expression of music to a mathematical system” back in 1906.

He goes on to add, “Is AI [music] real music? I believe that when it’s in the hands of musicians, it can be.” With this context in mind, Ballard goes on to question how using AI to make song lyrics differs from using another aid, such as a rhyming dictionary. “What if I used AI to make a new instrument sound that’s never existed, is that much different than a synthesiser?” he quizzes.

With all these questions left up in the air, and even lawmakers confused about the ethics of AI, Ballard says that artists are left to set their own guard rails of what is wrong and right. In his case, he asks himself three core questions: Is it deceptive? Is there artistic intent behind it? How does it affect musicians, especially those involved?

“If you’re one of those people who’s mass producing hundreds of AI songs and uploading them to Spotify, your intent is probably not artistic,” he says.

Ballard features his own bizarre AI mash ups across the talk, including a clip of him using his friend’s voice to sing Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-a-Lot in the style of Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen.

Watch the full TED talk from Dustin Ballard via the TED website, or check out more of his AI creations over on his There I Ruined It YouTube channel.

Rachel is a DIY musician who began learning guitar and keyboard from her bedroom at 14. She has written news and features for MusicTech since 2022, and also has bylines across Kerrang!, Guitar.com, and The Forty-Five. Though a lover of heavy music, her guilty pleasure is 2000s pop.