JERRY CANTRELL On Dangers Of Artificial Intelligence: 'It's Up To The User How You Intend To Use It'

During an appearance on the latest episode of "Whiplash", the KLOS radio show hosted by Full Metal Jackie, ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell spoke about his upcoming album, "I Want Blood", which is due on October 18 via Double J Music. Addressing the fact that the LP's first single, "Vilified", mentions artificial intelligence (A.I.),Jerry said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, I'm fully aware of why people are drawn to that theme of the song. And I put it there on purpose, 'cause it's an interesting concept and one I've grown up with since the… I'm a child of the '60s — I was born in the '60s — so I've been fascinated by stories and movies about the subject from [director] Stanley Kubrick's '2001[: A Space Odyssey]' [film] on. So it's in there. But the actual theme of the song, the steak, if you will, is not really A.I. The A.I. is more of a seasoning to the real kind of theme, I guess, of the song."

Regarding how concerned he is as an artist about how rapidly things are changing with artificial intelligence, Jerry said: "We're living in a time right now where it's proliferating and actually becoming integrated into society and used to manage algorithms and set it out and create content and stuff like that. So it's an interesting time because it's happening now.

"I don't know. It's a good tool," he continued. "It's like any tool. You can use a hammer to smash somebody in the face or you can use it to build a house for somebody. It's up to the user how you intend to use it. So it's just another tool. As far as replacing the human aspect of creation and capturing the human experience and putting it into a piece of art, I don't think that that's really possible. I mean, at best you can get a really good facsimile, I think, out of it, but you still need the human touch to create something human and something that's gonna relate to another human being."

Cantrell previously discussed A.I. in a recent interview with Kerrang! He said at the time: "Sci-fi and the fear of technology has been around a long time, from 'The Terminator' to 'Ex Machina'. A.I. is a boogeyman we've grown up with, but now we're living in a time that it's becoming a reality to more of an extent. It's weird to me. I get it, as it's a progression of technology and our use of it, but it's part of the conversation of our lives and the world, so I can't really do anything about it. It's like any tool — you can take a hammer and bash somebody's head in, or you can build a house — it's up to the user. There's still a human element there, of intention and responsibility."

"I Want Blood", co-produced by Cantrell and Joe Barresi (TOOL, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, MELVINS),was recorded at Barresi's JHOC Studio in Pasadena, California. The album features contributions from bass heavyweights Duff McKagan (GUNS N' ROSES) and Robert Trujillo (METALLICA),drummers Gil Sharone (TEAM SLEEP, STOLEN BABIES) and Mike Bordin (FAITH NO MORE),and backing vocals from Lola Colette and Greg Puciato (BETTER LOVERS, ex-THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN).

On the topic of the "I Want Blood" album title, Cantrell told Sylvia of the Las Vegas radio station KOMP 92.3: "[Previous LP, 2021's] 'Brighten', that was a great record. And I think that was a pretty apt title and a great song to kind of represent that work. And when I was kind of coming up with this group of material that would turn into this record, it had a feel to it that was a bit more on the kind of heavier, aggressive side. And I had a song called 'I Want Blood'. And I thought that was an outstanding title. It had punch, it grabs your attention and it kind of feels right as a representation of the album as a whole."

He added: "One of my favorite records is 'If You Want Blood You've Got It' by AC/DC. So if you want some blood, I got it. [Laughs]"

Regarding how "I Want Blood" compares to some of his previous efforts, Cantrell said: "Yeah, it's a good piece of work. Any artist is gonna be excited about their new record because it's a new record and it takes a lot of effort and it takes a lot of time to put that together. And if you're gonna release it, it obviously meets the level that you wanted it to hit and hopefully maybe it even goes a little bit further than that. And so I've been able to, luckily, not really be disappointed but pleasantly surprised of pretty much every record I've done in my career, and that's a good feeling. So when you bring home a record and then you can kind of take a step back and take a look at it, it's, like, 'Oh, man. That is a serious piece of work there.' And I don't think I could have done any better. It's the absolute best work I could have done in that period of time. So that's always a good feeling."

Elaborating on the songwriting process for "I Want Blood", Cantrell said: "Well, I think you have to start each record the same way. There are habits that I instilled in myself and also by being a member of ALICE. We never pulled any punches. We didn't varnish anything. We didn't sand any rough edges off — 'warts and all' was our approach. And so I kind of carry that wherever I go. But the main ethos, if you will, I guess, that I carry within and outside the band, is you have to start from an absolute zero. It doesn't matter what you did before. You did that record, you wrote those songs, so it's gotta be something completely new. And so that's kind of a daunting task, but it's necessary. 'Okay. It's a blank chalkboard, blank piece of paper, absolute zero. What am I gonna do now?' If you're starting from that and not really relying or trying to compete with your past work, it's kind of a freeing thing. You also have the experience of having made some great records and wrote some great songs and been part of some really amazing collectives of people, musicians to make those records. So, I had a pretty good group of folks together to make this one, too — Gil Sharone, Mike Bordin, Robert Trujillo, Duff McKagan, Vincent Jones, Lola Colette and Greg Puciato and Tyler Bates and Joe Barresi. And that's a pretty good group of folks right there. So, you start from a zero and you just go and see where you end up."

A tour with BUSH concluded at the iconic Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on September 15.

"Brighten" came out in October 2021. The LP was Jerry's first project without ALICE IN CHAINS in 19 years.

Jerry's career outside of ALICE IN CHAINS has consisted of two other solo albums and contributions to major film soundtracks. Cantrell's first solo album, "Boggy Depot", was released in 1998, followed by his second album, "Degradation Trip". In addition to his solo artist work, Jerry has released music on soundtracks for several films, including "Spider-Man", "The Cable Guy", "John Wick 2", "Last Action Hero" and "The Punisher".

ALICE IN CHAINS regrouped in 2006 with William DuVall joining the band, and released its third LP with DuVall in the lineup, "Rainier Fog", in August 2018.

Photo credit: Darren Craig