Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith has once again shared his strong distaste for the growing presence of artificial intelligence in the modern music industry.
During a recent interview with Argentina’s “UnDinamo – La Última Radio De Rock,” the legendary axeman was asked about his thoughts on utilizing A.I. to compose and write music. Unsurprisingly, Smith rejected the concept entirely, arguing that skipping the hard work removes the ultimate reward of the creative process:
“No, I don’t like it. I don’t like it. I mean, people seem to be craving more reward with less effort. I think part of the enjoyment and the fun is the journey of getting there and the process and the struggle. It makes you feel good when you get it. If someone just gives you something, it’s all finished and done. And I think from our point of view, the albums that Richie [Kotzen] and I do [under the Smith/Kotzen banner] are pretty organic. There’s no loads of overdubs. It’s just two guitars [and our] voices. A few overdubs, of course, [but we] try to keep it organic, keep the human feel,” he said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
Taking aim at the modern reliance on technology in live settings, Smith also expressed total disbelief at bands that lean too heavily on backing tracks to get through a gig:
“A.I., it just makes me shiver. And when you hear about bands canceling gigs, ’cause they’ve lost their laptop computer — I mean, come on.”
The conversation then shifted to the broader struggles facing new artists. When asked if artificial intelligence poses a major threat to up-and-coming bands trying to break through, Smith pointed out that the industry is already suffering heavily from the streaming model and a drastic drop in the barrier to entry:
“The record industry is dying on it ass because of music streaming. People aren’t getting paid or can’t earn any money out music. Sure, you can make an album on your computer and anyone can make an album, so it’s kind of cheapened everything. There’s no struggle anymore. You used to have to save the money and work to buy one hour in the studio. It was so expensive.
“Yeah, it’s difficult for young bands now, difficult for young bands,” Adrian continued. “I’m glad I was born when I was, because I got the best of both worlds. With Maiden, we can make the whole thing solvent by doing shows, but records are — it’s tragic. People expect it for nothing; they want music for nothing. They don’t wanna pay for it.”
These new comments echo the exact sentiments Smith shared nearly a year ago. During an April 2025 interview with Andrew McKaysmith of the “Scars And Guitars” podcast, the guitarist was asked if he would ever consider using A.I. himself. His answer was a resounding refusal:
“No way. I don’t know. I don’t even wanna think about it. I mean, A.I. What was it someone was telling me the other day? Somebody, as a birthday present or as a present to his friends, he had a song written by A.I. for each one of them, using their voice. And it’s just mind-boggling. It’s like the beginning of the end. I mean, social media’s bad enough. But this is just another level.
“I can’t see it having any effect,” he continued. “I mean, even digital recording and Pro Tools now has enabled anyone to make up something that — you can present something that sounds respectable, but it’s all done by computers. At least I grew up old school where you had to actually play in the studio; you couldn’t tune it up afterwards. So that makes you more of a craftsman. Digital recording we use because it’s convenient and it saves time and it saves money.
“A.I., man, I don’t know. [Laughs] I don’t know,” he concluded.
