LONDON \u2014 Samuel Smith spent years writing songs with a guitar in his hands.<\/p>\n
Now, the London-based singer-songwriter is using artificial intelligence tools to help him continue making Americana music after Parkinson’s disease largely took away his ability to play guitar.<\/p>\n
Smith, who was diagnosed with the progressive neurological disorder in 2020, recently released his second album, \u201cThe Art of Letting Go.\u201d For one of the eight tracks, an instrumental piece titled \u201cHorizon,\u201d he relied on platforms that use AI to generate music to create demo arrangements that would convey his vision to the musicians who recorded the song. <\/p>\n
The demos he created by humming rough melodies into his phone and uploading the recordings into song generators like Suno and Udio weren’t for mixing into the final studio version of \u201cHorizon,\u201d Smith stressed. But tremors, stiffness and fatigue, which are common symptoms of Parkinson\u2019s, caused his guitar skills to deteriorate during the more than a year he worked on the album, he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo then I\u2019m faced with a question,\u201d Smith, 49, said. \u201c\u2018Don\u2019t play, don\u2019t be creative, or find a way out, find a route.\u2019 And for me, this was the route.\u201d <\/p>\n
Generative AI has divided the music industry, whose artists and record labels have complained of their copyrighted work being used to train the models behind AI-powered music tools. Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Records sued Suno and Udio in June 2024, although Universal later reached a settlement and partnership deal with Udio and Warner did the same with Suno. <\/p>\n
Less discussed is what those platforms can do when employed by a serious musician like Smith, whose disease affects the tools central to his songwriting and identity as a guitarist: his hands. He released his debut album, \u201cIn the Springtime,\u201d in 2023, saying he wanted to give his two sons a way to remember when he could perform and record music himself.<\/p>\n Musician Samuel Smith edits audio at his home, in London, Tuesday, May 12, 2026, Credit: AP\/Mustakim Hasnath<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n \u201cI\u2019d always written, I\u2019d also played, I always sung,” he said. “And immediately it became clear to me that I was in trouble, that my music was going to be seriously compromised.\u201d<\/p>\n AI music generators use systems trained on large datasets of recorded music and audio. The platforms analyze patterns in melody, harmony, and rhythm before generating new audio based on prompts or uploaded recordings. Users don\u2019t need musical talent to end up with a serviceable song, or even a popular one. <\/p>\n Smith said producing convincing demos from the synthetic tracks the apps generated often required \u201c50, 100, 150 attempts\u201d and extensive editing “to get something that sounds close to my music.\u201d After humming a song into his phone and uploading the recording, he gives prompts describing instrumentation, mood and style. .<\/p>\n \u201cAI is not replacing anything for me,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s unlocking, it\u2019s enabling. It\u2019s allowing me to keep writing. I upload my lyrics; AI doesn\u2019t create my lyrics. I upload my music; AI does not create my music.\u201d<\/p>\n In this photo provided by Samuel Smith, the musician left, poses for a photo with Julian Large during a session recording for Smith’s album, ‘The Art of Letting Go’, in 2025. Credit: AP\/Uncredited<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n He added: \u201cIt then brings it to life in a way that I can play to session players and say, \u2018Here, that\u2019s what I\u2019m thinking, that is what I\u2019m hearing.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The album was produced by Grammy-winning pianist and producer Matt Rollings, who assembled a group of established roots and bluegrass musicians for the project. They included dobro player and 16-time Grammy winner Jerry Douglas, Grammy-winning banjo player Alison Brown, fiddler Stuart Duncan, guitarist Bryan Sutton, bassist Viktor Krauss and singers Jonatha Brooke and Glen Phillips.<\/p>\n For Smith, the experience of singing in a Nashville studio alongside musicians he had admired for decades was “an extraordinary moment.\u201d <\/p>\n Grammy-nominated guitarist Julian Lage, known for his jazz and acoustic recordings with Blue Note Records, performed on the album\u2019s title track and on \u201cHorizon.\u201d The latter recording became a bittersweet high point in Smith’s career; despite the progression of his disease, he managed to play a guitar duet with his friend. <\/p>\n \u201cI hadn\u2019t been able to play for months, but I kept telling myself that if I wrote something to take to the studio, perhaps the clouds would part for a few minutes,” Smith said. \u201cThat\u2019s what happened. I had a window of about 10 minutes in the studio when my arm freed up. … So in the end, I was able to capture the last breath of my guitar playing.\u201d<\/p>\n Experts said AI-assisted music tools could benefit other people with disabilities or illnesses.<\/p>\n Ruaidhri Mannion, a composer, music producer and sonic artist who teaches at Brunel University of London, said technology like affordable digital recording software “effectively democratized the making of music\u201d in recent decades. By helping songwriters and musicians communicate ideas and collaborate more easily, AI tools that generate polished-sounding material from voice or text prompts could work in the same way, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf these tools are able to enable people to be able to participate with other creative groups and encourage more people to feel confident to be able to reach out to an ensemble or an orchestra or something, then I think that is all for the better,\u201d Mannion said.<\/p>\n But an overreliance on technology could intefere with the trial and error, frustration and synergy that are necessary parts of a musician’s artistic development, Mannion said. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat makes a lot of music-making meaningful is the collaborative element,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of experimentation and development and failure that\u2019s part of musical discovery.\u201d<\/p>\n Udio and Suno have denied copyright infringement allegations and said they wanted to work with the music industry, not in opposition to it. Some musicians are unconvinced. A group of recording artists and activists, including singer-songwriter Tift Merritt, David Lowery of the bands Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven, and ECR Music Group President Blake Morgan, published an open letter in February under the heading \u201cSo no to Suno.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cMany in our community are embracing responsible AI as a tool for creation, and as a means for fans to explore and interact with our artistry. That\u2019s wonderful,\u201d the letter read. \u201cBut it\u2019s not the same as creating an environment where AI-generated works sourced from our music are mass distributed to dilute our royalties or, worse yet, reward those actively seeking to commit fraud. Artists need to know the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith said he thinks his experience demonstrated how AI could benefit society and expand creative access, if it’s developed responsibly.<\/p>\n \u201cMy message would be that if these companies want to show they\u2019ve got a place, a role in society, then step up,\u201d Smith said. \u201cEngage with health professionals, engage with music therapists, engage with society and show us what you can do.\u201d<\/p>\n On May 21, Smith collaborated with the Berklee Music and Health Institute for an event in New York that brought together music industry leaders, researchers and clinicians to examine how music can support people living with neurological conditions. Smith discussed his experience living with Parkinson’s and sang again alongside musicians who played on \u201cThe Art of Letting Go.\u201d <\/p>\n Creating music is crucial to the legacy Smith hopes to leave for his children, ages 4 and 17.<\/p>\n \u201cMy 4-year-old is probably never going to remember me playing, and it\u2019s heartbreaking,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I\u2019ve been able to pull this into something and refuse to be defined by this disease.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.newsday.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" LONDON \u2014 Samuel Smith spent years writing songs with a guitar in his hands. Now, the London-based singer-songwriter is using artificial intelligence tools to help him continue making Americana music after Parkinson’s disease largely took away his ability to play guitar. Smith, who was diagnosed with the progressive neurological disorder in 2020, recently released his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2437944,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[359676,21796,21751,21741,21800,23239,307696],"class_list":["post-2437943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-ap-a-wire","tag-business","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-technology","tag-wires-bot"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AI-helped-a-musician-with-Parkinsons-finish-his-new-album.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2437943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2437943"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2437943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2437945,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2437943\/revisions\/2437945"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2437944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2437943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2437943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2437943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}From prompts to convincing demos<\/h2>\n
![\"In](\"https:\/\/www.newsday.com\/_next\/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.newsday.com%2Fimage-service%2Fversion%2Fc%3ANGUxYjcyMzgtYTg5Ni00%3ANjhlZGNkZTYtMGI3Yi00%2Fcopy-of-uk-ai-musician.jpeg%3Ff%3DLandscape%2B16%253A9%26w%3D768%26q%3D1&w=1920&q=80\"\/)
A bittersweet guitar duet<\/h2>\n
New possibilities and perils<\/h2>\n
\u2018Show us what you can do\u2019<\/h2>\n