RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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British pop star Boy George on Sunday defended his use of artificial intelligence to produce his new pro-Israel song "We Will Dance Again," saying human musicians would have "gotten in my way" and warning that any members of his band who question performing the song would be fired.
George has acknowledged using AI to help produce the controversial song, which pays tribute to the victims of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre at the Nova music festival, describing the technology's role in its creation as "AI for good."
"If I would have tried writing 'We Will Dance Again' with any other musician, they would have gotten in my way," he said in a video uploaded to Instagram . "They would of said, 'Oh, you can't say that.'"
"Even now that the song is written, there are people in my band who are questioning whether they'll perform it with me, and those people will be fired," he added.
"I don't need gatekeepers, and one of the great things about AI is that it removes all the interference — all the human interference," George said.
At the same time, George stressed that AI had not written the song itself, saying both the lyrics and melody were his own.
"I wrote that song. The lyrics are mine, the melody is mine," he said, likening his use of AI to the songwriting partnership between Elton John and his longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin, in which Taupin writes the lyrics and John composes the music. George, who does not play any musical instruments, said he treats AI much as he does the human musicians with whom he collaborates.
"That doesn't make me lazy or make me uncreative," he said. "In fact, I think AI has made me more creative."
"If I would have tried to write 'We Will Dance Again' with a human being, they would have gotten in my way, so thank God for AI," George concluded.
The singer's embrace of the technology has already complicated the song's release. Music distribution platform Bandcamp removed "We Will Dance Again" shortly after it was uploaded, citing its policy on AI-generated music.
The track is currently unavailable on mainstream music streaming platforms and can only be heard on social media.
George alleged in a recent post on X that Bandcamp's decision was politically motivated, writing that the song "stayed there for over 24 hours which mean [sic] the haters alerted them or they did not like the message."
The dispute over AI comes alongside a broader backlash over the song's staunchly pro-Israel message. In a separate post on X last week , George said he would release the song even if it cost him friendships, including with Tony Pontius, the longtime manager of his record label, whom George said he cut ties with over his opposition to the song.
“We Will Dance Again” defends Israel’s military response in Gaza, criticizes musicians and activists who have publicly supported the Palestinian cause and declares, “If you’re ever confused: I stand with the Jews.”
The song borrows its title from the slogan of survivors of the Nova music festival, where Hamas terrorists killed 378 young people and kidnapped dozens as part of the October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel. The slogan has become a symbol of resilience in the aftermath of October 7.
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