“AI Mogul Morphs into AI Maverick: Championing the Rights of Artists with Humor and Wit”
“An AI Executive Turns AI Crusader to Stand Up for Artists”
“While an undergrad at Harvard, Ed Newton-Rex made a button that could compose music. He hoped the algorithm–powered tool would help novice songwriters, but quickly found he had built a bigger beat. It could crank out tunes in genres spanning classical to pop, which helped make his startup Jukin, founded in 2015, a modest hit,” states Wired.
Well isn’t that something! The young undergraduate taking on the daunting task of composing music certainly deserves a round of applause. Taking the world by surprise, Jukin was born and it was not just another ordinary tech startup. Technology, meet music. Now that’s a match made in heaven, isn’t it?
The story goes that the genius, the nonchalant Harvard student, who was just merely trying to help newbie songwriters, ended up creating a music composing application, expanding across a variety of genres. From classical to pop, Jukin was more like an all-you-can-eat buffet. So, this disrupter of 2015 wasn’t just a startup. It was, in fact, a ‘modest hit’, a humble euphemism adopted by Wired.
However, hold onto your seats because our saviour’s journey doesn’t just end with Jukin. Proving his intent to stand up for artists’ rights in the midst of AI-armed tech giants, Newton-Rex embarked on a crusade in 2021. The mission? To emphasize that humans, not technology, are the backbone of music and should receive their due credit. Hmm, honorable for sure, but a bit contradictory coming from the guy who created the algorithm-powered tool, isn’t it?
Jokes aside, remember the significance of human creativity amidst the rise of AI and technology. It’s easy to get carried away with the benefits of AI, but let’s not forget that behind every piece of technology is an innovative human mind. Even Newton-Rex had to part ways with TikTok, a platform that benefitted enormously from his application’s prowess, to return to his true calling — safeguarding the rights of artists.
In essence, the irony isn’t lost in the fact that the creator of an AI music composition tool is now fighting for the rights of human artists. Guess technology can’t replace everything, after all. We’re all for the advancements in AI and technology, as long as it doesn’t undermine the value of human creativity. So here’s to the crusade of our very own music maestro, advocating for the rights of artists and reminding us of the essence of human creativity.