According to a recent post on The Red Hand Files, Nick Cave has changed his mind about AI in art. On July 29, Cave replied to a question asking, “Is changing your mind about things a sign of weakness?” A loaded question for sure, with many branching answers and the overwhelming sentiment that “sometimes it feels that way.”This question comes on the heels of a music video released for the 40th anniversary of the Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds song “Tupelo.” The track describes Elvis Presley’s birth during a storm in Tupelo, Mississippi. Additionally, it has been a staple at Bad Seeds shows since its inception in 1985.The video, created by filmmaker Andrew Dominik as a gift for Cave, features AI-generated footage of Elvis Presley. Using archival materials of Presley, Dominik used AI to essentially bring still images to life, creating the uncanny video. According to Cave, he was initially apprehensive about this gift. But, Andrew Dominik is a friend, he said, and with a little prompting (‘“Jesus,” said Andrew. “Suspend your f—ing prejudices and take a look!”’), Cave began to soften his opinion about AI.Nick Cave’s Initial Thoughts About AI in Creative SpacesIn 2019, Nick Cave addressed “why AI will never write a great song.” Later, in January and August 2023, Cave received two more messages about AI, specifically using ChatGPT in songwriting. The first message presented him with a song written by ChatGPT “in the style of Nick Cave.” The result is sufficiently embarrassing. Not only for those who happen to give it a glance, but one would assume for Nick Cave himself. Imagine spending decades as a celebrated songwriter and then a computer program comes along and thinks you write like this. Cave didn’t lash out, however. While the AI lyrics are bland at best and insulting at worst, there didn’t seem to be any malice behind the message. This was even addressed in Cave’s response. “Thanks for the song,” he wrote, “but with all the love and respect in the world, this song is bulls–t, a grotesque mockery of what it is to be human, and, well, I don’t much like it.”He also described ChatGPT as “replication as travesty.” Generative AI is just that—recreation and replication, especially when one asks it to write in an existing style. It also cuts out all the fun of making any kind of art in the first place. Simply, the act of creation. “Algorithms Don’t Feel”For Nick Cave, songwriting in particular stems from human suffering. Songs are “predicated upon the complex, internal human struggle of creation,” and “algorithms don’t feel.” ChatGPT cannot participate in the purely human act of creation because, as Cave says, it “has no inner being, it has been nowhere, it has endured nothing, it has not had the audacity to reach beyond its limitations, and hence it doesn’t have the capacity for a shared transcendent experience, as it has no limitations from which to transcend.”Later, in August, Cave reiterated his stance on AI, writing, “ChatGPT is fast-tracking the commodification of the human spirit by mechanizing the imagination.” Think of it this way: using ChatGPT to write a song is kind of like making a bread bowl out of a perfect loaf of sourdough. If that loaf is the process of creation, then using ChatGPT is the act of ripping all the bread out and throwing it in the trash. Maybe the result is cool (there’s some merit to a bread bowl, after all), but the process, all the good and fun stuff, has been completely gutted. So, Is Changing Your Opinion Actually a Sign of Weakness?Fast forward to July 2025. Nick Cave is presented with an AI-generated Elvis music video, begins to change his opinion on AI, and someone asks if that’s a sign of weakness. Luckily, Cave outlined his thought process in his response.“I watched Andrew’s film,” he said, “then watched it again. I showed it to Susie [Cave]. To our surprise, we found it to be an extraordinarily profound interpretation of the song – a soulful, moving, and entirely original retelling of ‘Tupelo’, rich in mythos and a touching tribute to the great Elvis Presley, as well as to the song itself.”Cave admitted that the images seemed “uncanny” but were ultimately “deeply affecting.” He continued, “As I watched Andrew’s surreal little film, I felt my view of AI as an artistic device soften. To some extent, my mind was changed.”In response to the question of changing opinions as weakness, Cave offered insight. “I believe that the ability to change one’s mind is the very definition of strength,” he said. “We pursue the truth wherever it may lead, remaining flexible and humble enough to adjust our views as new evidence emerges, regardless of how uncomfortable that may feel. It is ultimately a form of resilience, not a sign of weakness. Rigidity breaks; flexibility endures.”But following this, more questions emerge. Where do we draw the line between being flexible in our opinions as we learn and grow, and abandoning our principles at the first sign of something kind of cool? Where’s the consideration for AI’s unethical practices in creative spaces, its environmental impact, the spread of AI-generated misinformation, and its severe effect on mental health? Whether you love AI or hate it, it’s still a tool that’s evolving in ways we can barely keep up with. We need to decide where to draw those lines. Flexibility is healthy and human, but some things should stay firm. Rigidity breaks, yes, but not always.Photo by Katja Ogrin/RedfernsThe post Can Someone Please Figure Out Nick Cave’s True Feelings About AI? appeared first on VICE.