As the debate over artificial intelligence in the creative arts continues to intensify, Lacuna Coil vocalist Cristina Scabbia has firmly positioned herself on the side of human expression. In a recent interview with Spanish outlet El Jevilongo, the Italian goth metal icon voiced strong opposition to the use of AI generators in music, labeling the practice as fundamentally dishonest.
While acknowledging that technological advancement is inevitable, Scabbia argued that the current wave of AI-generated content undermines the livelihood and integrity of actual creators.
“I hate music made with A.I.,” Scabbia stated bluntly (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “I understand that A.I. is the way because I can [not] deny the progress. I understand that we are a little pi*sed, especially creative people, especially artists and painters and people who create posters for shows, all the graphic designers are really pi*sed, photographers and also singers and musicians.”
Scabbia went a step further, suggesting that major streaming services have a moral obligation to curate their libraries more strictly. She specifically named Spotify, arguing that they should prioritize human artists over algorithmic noise.
“I think for music, it should start from platforms. I understand the business point, but platforms like Spotify, at least they should say no to A.I. artists because that’s not real music,” she explained. “They should be the ones to say, like, ‘We don’t accept A.I. musicians.’ And also people should be aware that those are just creations from computers with no souls in it.”
She expressed frustration with the growing trend of “fake” bands cluttering the digital landscape, noting: “I’ve seen many, many videos of people just singing over these bands that are not even existing.”
When the interviewer suggested that creativity is a “muscle” that atrophies without use, Scabbia agreed, dismissing the idea that typing a prompt constitutes artistic effort. For her, the distinction between using technology as a tool and letting it do the work is clear.
“If you’re a real musician, you would take your time to write your music and maybe use the help of electronic things to improve your creativity or to make it faster, but A.I., it’s something like in which you’re not doing anything, pretty much,” she said. “I don’t understand why they call themselves artists, because you can’t really be an artist just like typing, ‘Make a song that sounds like Lacuna Coil.’ That’s not creating something; that’s just like cheating big time.”
This isn’t the first time Scabbia has expressed skepticism about the technology. In a previous interview with Brazil’s Sonoridades Inc., she warned that while AI might benefit science or medicine, its application in art would likely lack the “soul” required to connect with listeners.
“I am confident that the creativity that a human being with emotions, with a soul can have will not be comparable, hopefully ever, to A.I.,” she said at the time, citing The Police‘s “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da” as an example of human creativity that a computer would struggle to replicate. “A.I. would be scratching the forehead, if it had one, and say, like, ‘What is this? What does it mean?’ But it sounds good… It works with that voice.”
