BLACK STONE CHERRY's CHRIS ROBERTSON Doesn't Think A.I. Should Go Away: 'But There's Definitely Limits And Levels We Should Use It For'

In a new interview with Primordial Radio, BLACK STONE CHERRY vocalist/guitarist Chris Robertson was asked if the lower attention spans of the listeners worry him as an artist creating music and then his 'art" becoming a bit more "disposable" than it used to be in the band's earlier days. Chris responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Not as long as live concerts still happen. And that's why I think … those smaller venues need all the help they can get. And I obviously know that — we play 'em, and you show up to some of 'em, and some of 'em are perfectly staffed and they have all the stuff that they're supposed to, and then you turn up to some and they're struggling to get by. And it is what it is, man. You go play the same show regardless."

Chris continued: "But I think as long as there's a place for people to go see human beings playing instruments and singing songs that all the A.I. and all the speed of technology — obviously it's probably gonna be more at the forefront, but I think we'll always have that personal connection. 'Cause you can sit and talk to ChatGPT all day long, but it's not gonna cry with you. It's not gonna hug you when you need that. It's not gonna kind of get in your ass when you need it. It's just gonna respond. So as great as all that stuff is, the personal thing is so much bigger, and I think that translates to music and arts as well."

Chris went on to offer his opinion on the existence of art that is created or inspired by artificial intelligence, saying: "I'm not into it for the artistic abilities. Now, for drawing inspiration from something… Like, who doesn't like sitting on their phone and typing in a prompt: 'I wanna see a squid being ridden by a cowboy fighting off dinosaurs.' … Who doesn't love the fact that you can type a prompt like that, and in 30 seconds have an image that looks like somebody spent 10 days on it? Like, yeah, that's cool, but you can't use that because there's no creative… Yeah, you gave it the prompt, but… That's where it gets tricky for me. You know what I mean? It's, like, yeah, you created the prompt, but you didn't create the piece."

He added: "The A.I. thing is so tricky… I think just like anything, man, it's, it's all about moderation. Whether you dig A.I. or you don't, it's gonna be a part of your life at some point. Whether you even know it or not, there's probably some kind of A.I. thing working either at your job or somewhere you go, or at a restaurant or something. It's gonna be a part of your life. It's come so far now and so many people have adapted it that I don't see a way for it to go away. And I don't think it should. But I think there's definitely limits and levels we should use it for."

Back in November 2024, Chris's BLACK STONE CHERRY bandmate, guitarist Ben Wells, also weighed in on a debate about people using artificial intelligence (A.I.) to create music. Asked by TotalRock's "Louder With Ore B" radio show if he thinks A.I. is affecting his band's way of making new songs, Ben said at the time: "Not us, because… Well, I mean, I don't know; it's still somewhat early days in it. A.I. is a cool thing. It can be used in the right way. Just like anything, just like social media, used in the right way, it can be fantastic. Used in the wrong way, it does take away some of the art."

He continued: "It is scary to think that you can get on a computer and have a computer write a song for you [in a specific style] just like that… It is pretty bizarre that you can do that now. I guess I'm not surprised just to see where we are with technology. Who knows what it's gonna be like 20 years from now? But I think there could be a time where it could be scary for certain people in the industry. If A.I. is going to mix a record for a band, that's gonna take away the guy who mixes the record; that's his job. So I would hate to see that ever happen. But for us, as long as people are still out there putting pen to paper and writing music, that's always gonna be the number one thing. And at the end of the day, live music, you can't recreate that. I mean, they've tried — you can do different things, holograms and things of that nature — but human beings on stage playing for other human beings is something that I don't think you'll ever be able to replicate. I hope not anyway. I hope not."

BLACK STONE CHERRY will release a brand-new EP, "Celebrate", digitally on March 6, 2026 via Mascot Records.