By Chuck Gallagher – Business Ethics Keynote Speaker | AI Speaker and Author
It Began with a Song That Wasn’t Human
A few years ago, I was prepping backstage for a keynote on business ethics at a national conference. The production team had chosen a beautiful, moody piano track to play as I took the stage. It evoked just the right emotion — reflective, powerful, human.
After the session, I asked the AV director who composed it.
“Oh, that?” he said casually. “It’s AI-generated. We grabbed it from an app.”
That moment stopped me cold. Not because I didn’t appreciate the music — but because I realized the world of content creation had quietly crossed a line. We were emotionally moved by something never touched by human hands or heart. The track had no composer, no royalties, and no accountability.
Now, fast forward to today: ElevenLabs — a company known for voice cloning — has released an AI music generator “cleared for commercial use.” On the surface, that sounds like a musician’s dream. But peel back the layers, and it’s an ethical minefield.
Let’s talk about it.
Ethical Insight: What Happens When Creation Has No Creator?
Here’s the core issue: if AI can generate music that rivals (or even exceeds) human composers — and do it faster, cheaper, and without royalties — what happens to human artists?
ElevenLabs claims it has trained its model only on licensed and copyright-safe data. That’s an important start — and a commendable one, if it holds true. But we’ve seen this movie before. What begins with “training on safe content” often evolves into murkier waters once business pressure mounts and legal lines blur.
As a business ethics keynote speaker, I’ve watched this pattern unfold with AI-generated art, writing, voiceovers, and even faces. Creators are celebrated… until they’re replaced.
So here’s the ethical tension: Just because we can create limitless commercial music without people — should we?
And if we do, what do we owe to the artists, session musicians, and composers whose life work AI models are often built upon?
Real-World Application in Business and Leadership
In the corporate world, speed and scale often win. AI-generated music means a marketing team can now produce thousands of custom jingles, social media beds, or full-length tracks with zero licensing fees. That’s a CFO’s dream.
But let me ask this: what happens when an AI tool inadvertently produces a song that sounds eerily like a Taylor Swift or Hans Zimmer piece? Maybe it wasn’t copied — but inspired in a way that’s algorithmically untraceable. Does the company that used it bear any liability? Or is everyone off the hook because “the model made it”?
This is where ethical leadership matters.
If you’re a CEO or CMO, you can’t outsource responsibility to an algorithm. Even if the tool says “cleared for commercial use,” your brand reputation is on the line. Laws may lag behind — but public backlash doesn’t.
And for those building these tools: remember, ethics isn’t just about compliance. It’s about consequences.
Strategic Takeaways for Leaders
- Vet Your AI Tools Thoroughly
Don’t just trust a “commercial use” label. Ask: What was the training data? Is it documented? Who owns the rights? Have you spoken to legal? - Build an Ethical Review Panel for Content Use
Before publishing anything AI-generated, run it through a review process. Ethics isn’t a “nice to have” — it’s a reputational firewall. - Engage Human Creators Alongside AI
Consider hybrid models where AI tools augment but don’t replace human artistry. Use AI to expand possibilities, not erase people. - Educate Your Teams on Creative IP Ethics
Marketers and developers must understand that just because it’s easy to generate doesn’t mean it’s ethically sound to use. - Stand for Something Beyond Convenience
In a world where speed and savings dominate, brands that choose ethical integrity will be the ones that customers and talent trust most.
Closing Reflection: It’s Not About Music — It’s About Meaning
That AI-generated track from my keynote years ago? It worked. But it lacked something.
There was no story. No late-night inspiration. No trembling hands over piano keys. And in that absence, I felt the weight of a question that still lingers: Are we moving toward a world where convenience replaces connection?
Music — like business — is at its best when it moves people. When it means something. And meaning, my friends, can’t be mass-produced.
We’re not just deciding what tools to use. We’re deciding what kind of world we want to live in.
As always, we welcome your comments and are happy to respond. Feel free to share your thoughts below.
Five Thought-Provoking Questions
- Should businesses be legally responsible for AI-generated content that mimics existing artists?
- Is “commercially cleared” AI music truly safe from ethical or legal risk?
- What moral obligations do tech companies have to the artists whose styles influence their models?
- How should brands balance efficiency with authenticity in their creative content?
- Will audiences care if the content that moves them wasn’t created by a human — and should they?
Your thoughts?
This is a fait accomplis, I think. Whether its a jingle, a hip hop track, Americana, Country, Pop, Rock. AI can and is writing it, and AI can create a video of an artist performing it. If the libraries it used as an LLM are human made, is it infringing on copyright? It’s a minefield. As you say, it is not human. Nobody lost a love, had life experiences, used their life stories or someone else’s and transmuted all of that emotion into notes and words with prosody. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t move people. It’s unstoppable imho like the first train on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. What is the difference to the listener on Spotify between a song performed by an artist you have never heard of, and a song written and performed by AI, and a real human songwriter where you know something of the person? If the AI makers want to, they can create a persona with a backstory. Man they are already doing it with Tilly Norwood. I want songs and performances by real people, and I will continue to write my own without the use of AI, although I may start using tools, just like an online thesaurus and rhyme dictionary. Those books are stock trade and were encouraged when I studied songwriting at Berklee Music.