
I Gave a Talk at a College About AI—and No One Booed
From Insanely Generative by Paul Henry Smith
May 29, 2026 · 14 min
About this episode
The episode explores the nuanced relationship between AI and creativity in music and education.
What if students aren’t booing AI because they hate technology, but because they can smell the difference between a tool that helps them think and a machine that helps someone else avoid thinking? In this episode, I want to poke at that difference with a tuning fork. We’ll visit Oberlin, a conservatory, some AI-generated Bach, a dance performance using Suno, and the strange fact that nobody booed when AI was used to make music-making richer rather than cheaper. The question isn’t whether AI can make more music. Of course it can. The better question is: can it help humans hear more deeply, practice more intelligently, and make something real happen in a room? That’s where things get interesting. Get full access to The Generative Gazette at generativegazette.substack.com/subscribe
People in this episode
Host: Paul Henry Smith
Topics covered
- AI
- music
- technology
- education
- creativity
- performance
Keywords
- AI
- music
- Oberlin
- Bach
- Suno
- creativity
- technology
- education
Mentioned in this episode
Products: Suno
Books & works: Bach
Places: Oberlin
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- You’ve Vibe Coded an Amblongus Pie! Now What? · March 18, 2026 · 7 min
- The Missing Layer in the AI Stack · March 15, 2026 · 21 min
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