According to Allkpop, a new study by musicMagpie has shed light on the growing influence of artificial intelligence (AI) in the music industry, especially how it affects K-pop artists.
The study, called "Bop or Bot?", analyzed nearly 1,500 AI-generated song covers, revealing shocking statistics about streaming numbers and financial losses.
According to the study, K-pop was one of the most affected genres, with 35% of streams from the top 20 artists using vocals for AI covers.
The artist most affected by AI-generated music is Blackpink, with a cumulative tally of over 17.3 million views of AI covers in Blackpink's voice.
The most viewed songs with Blackpink's AI cover are "Batter Up" (over 2.5 million views in total) and "Sheesh" (1.88 million views) - both original songs by the group Baby Monster.
Justin Bieber is also the artist most frequently used in AI covers, with 13 million views, second only to Blackpink. Justin Bieber's AI cover of George Benson's "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You" has 10.1 million views.
Other K-pop stars who have had their AI covers used the most include Jimin (1,683,898 views), Jennie (950,577 views), Stray Kids (677,270 views), TWICE (659,699 views), NCT Dream (447,605 views), and Enhypen (428,654 views).
K-pop artists are also among those most financially affected by AI covers.
Research estimates that if YouTube views were converted to Spotify streams, artists globally would lose a total of £10.6m in revenue due to unauthorised AI-generated music.
Topping the list of artists affected is Blackpink, with an estimated loss of more than £376k in revenue from 1,463 videos created.
Michael Jackson followed closely behind, with a loss of £262,265. In third place were Baby Monster, who lost an estimated £246,499 due to AI covers.
Other K-pop artists such as Stray Kids, Jungkook, Jennie, TWICE also lost between £60-80k in potential earnings due to the rise of AI cover songs.
Meanwhile, K-pop girl group FIFTY FIFTY's "Cupid" is one of the most viewed songs with AI covers (13.6 million views, through 31 AI covers).
Even more worryingly, 49% of adults (aged 21 to 60) surveyed in the UK were unable to differentiate between AI-generated music and human-generated music, demonstrating that technologies like AI can increasingly replicate human art in a convincing and sophisticated way.
As AI-generated music continues to rise, the study raises concerns about the future of the music industry. With AI imitating famous artists and creating unauthorized covers, the line between human creativity and machine-generated content is becoming increasingly blurred.
