AI in music? ‘Augmentation, not automation,’ says Paolo Sandejas
As a musician and an artificial intelligence (AI) engineer, Paolo Sandejas finds himself in a situation that’s intriguing and conflicting all at once.
With AI slowly encroaching on creative spaces, he would be lying if he said he weren’t scared. And for good reason. As it is right now, music creation programs like Suno AI and Udio can already generate songs—either with vocals or instrumental—simply by feeding them text prompts. And while the technology is still in its infancy stage, it’s only bound to evolve and improve.
On the flip side, if there’s someone who can approach this development in a more levelheaded manner, it’s also Sandejas. Straddling music and science, he can set aside his initial misgivings—if only for a while—and acknowledge the merits of AI as a potential tool for artists.
But where he stands is clear: AI in music should be used for “augmentation, not for automation.”
“Those are two different things. Automation is letting the technology do whatever it wants to make. Instead, I want to come up with tools that will allow you to express yourself better. That’s my thing about having AI in creative spaces. It should make your life as a musician better; it shouldn’t replace you,” he told Lifestyle.
Performance tool
The singer-songwriter holds a degree in computer science from the University of the Philippines Diliman, and previously worked for a software outsourcing company as an AI engineer and data scientist. Now, he’s pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree, specializing in music technology, at the California Institute of the Arts in the United States.
In what ways then can AI augment a musician’s craft? As a solo performer, Sandejas said he stands to benefit from AI models that can assist him to play his songs onstage.
“What I want to explore more in my academic pursuit is to build a performance tool. Usually, I have a band with me onstage when I do shows. But sometimes, I don’t. So, how do I work with that? Of course, it will always feel much better to have people playing with you and jamming with you. But you don’t always have that opportunity,” he said.
New, unfamiliar things will always be scary. It’s natural, Sandejas said. And the worst-case scenario, of course, is AI taking over and causing job displacement in the creative world. And perhaps it was his idealistic side talking, but he believes that humans will never be—and shouldn’t be—taken out of the equation.
After all, he said, we appreciate music—or any art form for that matter—not just because it’s beautiful in itself, but because there was a human being, a creative mind behind it that made it beautiful.
“You’re looking not only at the picture, but a story… the reason that piece of music was created,” said Sandejas, who can more or less spot an artificial song upon listening to it. (Unless it’s rerecorded by an actual human, making things tricky.)
“If you have a bunch of people in a room who don’t know anything about music, and they decide to use AI to come up with a song, of course it will be devoid of human touch. You can use it to replace songwriting, but where’s the fun in that?” he said. “Where’s the heart in that?”
Eight-song collection
He definitely poured his heart into crafting his newly released debut album “The World Is So Small” (Sony Music Philippines), an eight-song collection that touches on love, loss, and self-discovery—themes that have come to define his early 20s.
The record likewise weaves a narrative that follows two fictional strangers meeting, falling in love, and falling out of love before becoming strangers anew. “It’s a complete cycle. That’s why I called it, ‘The World Is So Small,’” said Sandejas, whose 2020 hit, “Sorry,” caught the attention of BTS member V, who used the song in a 2022 vlog.
A standout track is “Manila to LA,” a rather sad, guitar-driven tune that turns oddly hopeful after a couple of listens. It sounds a touch nostalgic, and in parts even feel-good—the kind that plays in a romcom or a coming-of-age film when the desperate leading man stands under the rain on a lover’s lawn—or holds up a boombox a la John Cusack in “Say Anything”—to win her girl back.
The song was also inspired by challenges of being in a long-distance relationship (LDR), something Sandejas and his girlfriend had to deal with for a year.
“You can miss the mark, fall short of expectations. While that’s normal in relationships, it’s especially difficult in an LDR,” he said. “Sometimes, it’s hard to be on the same page when you’re not even in the same time zone. It’s tough to fully convey emotions when you’re far away. You resort to mental gymnastics to make things work, to figure it all out, because you care a lot about the person.”
Sound- and style-wise, he stayed true to his guitar-playing roots while experimenting with new production elements, synths, and fuzzy sound effects. “The songs have their respective sonic fields. Some are high energy while others are laidback and raw. But they all work together because of the narrative thread,” he said.
While he considers music as his first love, Sandejas, son of TV personality Christine Jacobs and businessman Paco Sandejas, made sure to finish his studies as a compromise of sorts with his parents. His more academic-minded father told him that if he were to become an artist, he had to make sure to have a stable job.
He’s thankful he did. “I’m lucky that I can do music, as well as math and science. Well, music is more fun, of course! But they work hand in hand. My day job supports my passion. I feel secure that I can sustain myself while I pursue what I love,” he said.
And in juggling the two seemingly disparate fields, Sandejas hopes to one day make his mark in music, and along the way, help create technology that can make a positive impact. “That’s why I also want to be part of the field (AI), so at least, at the end of the day, I can reach a point where I can influence it for the better,” he said.
