Musician With Parkinson’s Uses AI to Complete New Album

London-based singer-songwriter Samuel Smith has utilized artificial intelligence to continue his music career after a 2020 Parkinson’s disease diagnosis limited his ability to play the guitar [1, 2]. By using AI platforms to generate instrumental demos, Smith was able to capture his musical vision and collaborate with professional musicians for his second album, The Art of Letting Go [1, 3].

Key takeaways

• Samuel Smith, a 49-year-old musician, turned to AI after Parkinson’s symptoms like tremors and stiffness made playing guitar increasingly difficult [2, 3].
• Smith used platforms like Suno and Udio to create demo arrangements by humming melodies into his phone and providing prompts regarding mood and style [1, 3].
• The AI-generated demos were used as a communication tool to guide session players, rather than as final tracks for the album [3].
• During the recording process, Smith experienced a brief window of physical relief that allowed him to perform a final guitar duet with musician Julian Lage [2, 3].

Bridging the gap between vision and performance

For Smith, the integration of AI was a practical solution to a creative crisis. As his motor skills deteriorated over the course of a year, he faced the choice of abandoning his creative output or finding a new route to express his ideas [3]. By uploading his own lyrics and humming melodies into song generators, Smith could produce a demo that conveyed his intended sound to his collaborators [2, 3]. He noted that this process often required extensive editing and as many as 150 attempts to achieve a result that felt authentic to his style [2, 3].

The project culminated in a Nashville studio session featuring a group of established roots and bluegrass musicians, including Jerry Douglas and Alison Brown [3]. The album’s title track and the instrumental piece "Horizon" featured guitarist Julian Lage [3]. During the recording of "Horizon," Smith experienced a rare ten-minute period where his arm function returned, allowing him to perform a guitar duet and capture what he described as the "last breath" of his playing [2, 3].

Why it matters

The use of generative AI in music remains a point of industry tension, with major labels previously filing lawsuits against platforms like Suno and Udio over the use of copyrighted material for model training [3]. While some artists express concern that such technology could dilute royalties or lead to fraud, experts like Ruaidhri Mannion of Brunel University of London suggest that these tools could democratize music-making for individuals with disabilities [3].

Smith advocates for a responsible approach to this technology, urging AI companies to engage with health professionals and music therapists to demonstrate how their tools can benefit society [2, 3]. He maintains that for his own work, AI serves as an enabler rather than a replacement, providing a necessary bridge to keep his songwriting alive [2, 3].