Ever since the Terminator movies, there has been a rippling undercurrent of dread that one day, machines will take over the world and make all human activity redundant. The supermarkets are certainly trying their hardest to leave us facing just a screen and a scanner, Amazon keep promising aerial parcel drops from robotic drones and even the humble vacuum cleaner can now do its rounds on its own. But when it comes to entertainment, can AI really cut the mustard?
As a DJ, I am inundated before every gig with the dreaded ‘playlist’ – a lengthy (often Spotify) roll-call of the party organiser’s favourite songs. Sometimes, there has been consideration for other guests within their list….and sometimes not! Quite often I’m left staring at a collection of ballads and slow tempo tunes that would serve no useful purpose on a dance floor that I’m trying to fill. Now imagine this same list is given to an AI device, controlling the music for a party or a wedding. Whilst AI will have phenomenal music recall powers (especially if it’s linked to Spotify), it doesn’t have a pair of eyes to monitor the dance floor. It’s yet to be able to sense the mood of the room and the people therein, and most importantly, it lacks empathy.
On average, I get asked about four times a year if I would install a sound and lighting system for a wedding client, but ‘we don’t need a DJ because we’ve got the music sorted ourselves’ – i.e. they’re playing it all from a stand-alone pre-programmed iPad. Sometimes they can be persuaded otherwise, but on the odd occasion that I can’t convince them of their terrible mistake, I’ve witnessed some truly lifeless events! I normally hang around long enough to make sure the kit is working well, and return an hour before the scheduled end of the party. In almost every case, there are very few guests left at the venue, and not a soul on the dance floor. Without the human touch, there is simply no atmosphere created.
I’ll leave you with a line that I have repeatedly told clients every time they mention the possibility of a DJ-less party…
“I have thirty-five years of extensive DJing experience and expertise, and if I cannot predict the music direction of an evening before I even get there, then no-one can!”
