Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider is not bullish on AI’s ability to rock, the legendary “We’re Not Gonna Take It” singer said during an interview with Fox News Digital on Friday. Even so, he said “it’s terrifying and replacing everybody.”
Sniders' comments come at a time when music-generating artificial intelligence models have taken the recording industry by storm. While AI is making it possible for long-dead rockers and actors to have one more go at fame, the music industry is fighting back against the use of copyrighted music in AI models.
While these AI models are powerful, he said, they lack the physical presence that rockstars are known for.
“The thing I do best, I don't think AI can replace that—they can't replace physical jobs,” Snider said. “Manual labor, which being a frontman is—rocking, connecting with the audience, and whatever,” Snider said.
He acknowledged that AI could devastate the job market, but reiterated his view that physical jobs were less threatened.
“They're going to take everybody's jobs, if you're not a blue-collar worker,” he told Fox. “Blue-collar workers, you got your plumbing, you're making things—they can't do that, they don't have hands.”
Modern AI and robotics developers may disprove Snider’s forecast, however, with intense development focused on humanoid robotics intended to work in spaces designed for people. These include Optimus robots deployed by Tesla, NEO from OpenAI-backed 1X, and the Sophia and Desdemona robots from Hanson Robotics.
Meanwhile, blockchain and AI developer SingularityNET, founded by Dr. Ben Goertzel, is working on building synthetic beings specifically to interact with humans—and even sing.
While generative AI may have a more immediate impact on white-collar jobs, factories and assembly lines have replaced workers with robots for decades, and a current labor shortage is driving more adoption.
In March, Mercedes-Benz announced it would add AI technology by Austin-based Apptronik to its assembly line robots. That same month, robotics start-up Figure showcased its first humanoid robot, Figure 01, that—using ChatGPT creator OpenAI’s technology—was able to hold a real-time conversation while completing physical tasks.
We are now having full conversations with Figure 01, thanks to our partnership with OpenAI.
Our robot can: - describe its visual experience - plan future actions - reflect on its memory - explain its reasoning verbally Technical deep-dive 🧵:pic.twitter.com/6QRzfkbxZY
— Corey Lynch (@coreylynch) March 13, 2024
While Snider appeared confident that AI would not be replacing human rockstars anytime soon, he expressed a dark view of the future.
“I'm glad I'll be dead before the excrement really hits the fan,” he concluded.
