New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Has Paul van Dyk used Artificial Intelligence on an album that questions Artificial Intelligence's role in our future? Well, we'll get to that.
Having album-gifted a locked-down world both 'Guiding Light' and 'Escape Reality' in 2020, 'This World Is Ours' is the German pioneer's first longform foray in five years. Paul's been in the 'think-phase' of his eleventh LP ever since, and few would deny that the last five rotations have given us plenty to think about.
"Very pro technology" is how van Dyk describes himself, something populated by his early adoption of new music tech at pretty much every career juncture. In the respect of AI though, he sees both a clear distinction … and a natural fork in the road. "Artificial Intelligence isn't music technology, or film, or entertainment, social media, military, finance or any other sector. To my mind, it is simply a new definition of 'technology'."
"It seems that one of the most common misconceptions is that there will be 'many different AIs' and that muddies the common understanding.
Everything will feed into everything. An input in New York or London becomes part of AI's Large Language milliseconds later - be it in Beijing, Berlin or anywhere else on the planet. It's a swarm intelligence that is all-but certain to become smarter than humankind within the next five years. Broadly, these are the thoughts that were occupying my mind as I made 'This World Is Ours'."
"This isn't an album about the dystopian, grave future prognoses though" van Dyk emphasises, "but about where we are in the 2025 here-and-now. Currently "This World Is Ours" is a statement of fact. We might have inherited the world; we certainly don't always treat it as we should, but it's been ours ever since we stepped out of the ocean several hundred millennia ago. However, we're on the 5-to-10 year cusp of creating something that'll significantly disrupt that. An entity that thinks, calculates, achieves a thousand times faster than we do. I feel there needs to be more thought about that … and we're speeding towards the last station-stop to do so."
The music, titles and lyrics on 'This World Is Ours' are inspired by this disrupted reality. By way of example, 'Two Rivers' is inspired by the twin elements which define my music: human emotions and electronic ones. In the beginning people often said electronic music didn't have any emotion. 'it's just music by machines'. I think we all now know that not to be true. What other misconceptions, I wonder, do we currently hold about technological advancements to come?"
For an album so-natured, Paul required collaborative likeminds as never before. Those he found in conversation with people like John 00 Fleming, FUENKA, Sue McLaren, The Yellowheads, Christian Schottstaedt, Reznor and others. Through coded titles like 'Take Me Away', 'Against The Algorithm', 'Let Go And Listen', 'Back 2 The FVTR', 'Gatekeeper' and, naturally, its title track, Paul channels his thoughts and intuitions about our future world. "We don't view technology in the same way that we view our fellow humans", he continues. "Most people on our planet see technology as something that leans positive, and thus far we've controlled it, rather than vice versa. When AI reaches self-awareness, at its Artificial General Intelligence or even Super-Intelligence level, that will change and we will no longer be Earth's undisputed apex inhabitant."
As a potential sign of our future, PvD points to our recent past. "Love it or hate it, through our experiences with social media, we've seen through a portal of the potential technological pitfalls. We are already being socially disrupted to the point that it's affecting mankind's behaviour. To no small degree algorithms are already programming us. This, I believe, should be something of a cautionary tale for what's to come. I touched on this subject in my collaboration with John 00 Fleming. We wanted to create a track that goes 'Against the Algorithm' of the music industry's demands—the endless stream of same-sounding 2-minute-30-second songs designed to fit neatly into playlists and radio rotations."
'The Poem', the album's minute-long swansong, will be both Paul's first and last music-making through AI. "It's not a counterpoint to my beliefs, but an experiment - due diligence, if you like.", he says. "I gave it the keyphrases, "write a beautiful poem", "make it about the seafaring and the sea", with "a positive outlook", and it answered with the most beautiful lyrics. I then used an 'old and knowledgeable' AI-generated voice to narrate it. Those were its only hints and the creative emotional human level with which it responded, to me, was indistinguishable from the real thing."
"Early humankind had the fight of their life to establish their place in the earth's hierarchy. Mandela,
George Washington, Gorbachev and others all relinquished power, but they did so for a higher purpose. The title of this album is 'This World Is Ours'. I'd love," van Dyk half-jokes, "not to have to call my next one 'Why Did We Just Give It Away?'"
'This World Is Ours' releases April 11, 2025.
Album Tracklist:
Paul van Dyk & Rafael Osmo - Two Rivers
Paul van Dyk & Julia Westlin - Beautiful
Paul van Dyk & LOUT - Take Me Away
Paul van Dyk & Reznor - Stay
Paul van Dyk - This World Is Ours
Paul van Dyk, Entel & Luke Coulson - Gatekeeper
Paul van Dyk & Sue McLaren - Love Is Enough
Paul van Dyk & Ciaran McAuley - Someone Like You
Paul van Dyk feat. Christian Schottstaedt - Let Go And Listen
Paul van Dyk & The Yellowheads - Back 2 The FVTR
Paul van Dyk, Paul
Thomas & EKKO - Shed Your Light
Paul van Dyk and Sean & Dee - Fragmentation
Paul van Dyk & FUENKA -
Seven Seas
Paul van Dyk & John 00 Fleming - Against The Algorithm
Paul van Dyk - The Poem
The Bonus Edition:
Paul van Dyk feat. Christian Schottstaedt - Let Go And Listen (Paul's Favourite Mix)
Paul van Dyk, Amos & Riot Night, Matt Noland - SHINE Together Now (SHINE Ibiza Anthem 2024)
Paul van Dyk with Saad Ayub & Elevation - Ouverture
Paul van Dyk - Filthy Acid
Paul van Dyk x Phuture x DJ
Pierre - Acid Traxxx
Paul van Dyk & Jordan Gill
Paul van Dyk, Marc van Linden and Sue McLaren - Beautiful Life (SHINE Ibiza Anthem 2023)
Paul van Dyk, Weekend Heroes & Christian Schottstaedt - VENTURE X
Paul van Dyk & Alex M.O.R.P.H. - Hawkins
Square (Album Mix)
Paul van Dyk, Chris Bekker & Jan Dzialek - Rhapsody (Album Mix)
Paul van Dyk & Fuenka - Artefact (Album Mix)
Paul van Dyk & Christian
Burns - But Not Tonight
Paul van Dyk & Troels Hammer - Alternative Sphere
Paul van Dyk and Aly & Fila - SHINE Ibiza Anthem 2022
Paul van Dyk & Kolonie - Wishful Thinking
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