SM Entertainment’s CEO Announces AI Usage In Artist Management, Sparks Massive Backlash

Fans are not buying his explanation.
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Serah S. Cherrie
Serah S. Cherrie

Jang Cheol Hyuk, the current CEO of SM Entertainment (SME hereon), is facing massive heat online after announcing the company’s policy to integrate AI into its artist management responsibilities.

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Jang Cheol Hyuk | SM Entertainment

In a recently published video, Jang was seen saying that the company intends to use AI to analyze trends and help the agency understand the global market better. He emphasized that AI would not replace the creative core of SME’s music.

The core of SM’s business, creation, and production, will continue to place artists and creativity at the centre. We see AI as a tool to support our understanding of global market trends and data, rather than something that replaces the creative heart of what we do.

— Jang Cheol Hyuk

He added that the company will use AI to get recommendations for new releases, based on the data of the body of work SME artists have built in the last 30 years.

By analyzing the tens of thousands of songs accumulated by SM over the past 30 years, AI will be able to recommend tracks with a high level of suitability for each artist, helping fans discover music that brings greater enjoyment and better aligns with individual tastes.

— Jang Cheol Hyuk

This statement has left fans infuriated as they realized that SM Entertainment has fed the music created by several artists in the past 30 years to an AI model, with no guarantees about its consequences. Many also pointed out that having AI determine new releases was not only disrespectful to artists but also a reflection incompetence of the agency, which should be doing this job in the first place.

 

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