Why AI Can’t Make ‘Thriller’

The Fundamental Difference Between Human Creation and Automated Imitation

Source: Google Gemini, June 2026

I have been a Michael Jackson fan for as long as I can remember.

As a child in the early 1970s, I sat beside my transistor radio singing along to “Who’s Lovin’ You.” I was only seven years old, but I already knew that Michael Jackson possessed something special. Like millions of children around the world, I imagined what it would be like to stand on stage beside him.

More than fifty years later, that feeling has not disappeared.

My wife and I share a deep appreciation for Michael Jackson and the Jackson family’s influence on our early love of music. Over the years, we have seen Michael Jackson ONE by Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas multiple times. If given the chance, we would gladly see it again.

Naturally, we were excited when the Michael Jackson biopic, Michael, arrived in theaters. Like millions of others around the world, our family made plans to see it. Our daughters, now in their twenties, watched it before we did. Once my wife and I saw it, we all compared notes about what we loved, what the filmmakers left out, and what felt authentic.

We did not agree on every detail.

But we all shared the same emotional reaction to the music.

Later that day, I walked upstairs and heard one of my daughters singing “Who’s Lovin’ You.”

For a brief moment, time seemed to collapse.

I was no longer a father in the twenty-first century. I was that seven-year-old boy again, sitting beside a transistor radio and dreaming about music.

That moment reminded me of something profound: Michael Jackson’s music has transcended generations. It connected with me as a child. It connected with my daughters decades later. It will likely connect with future generations as well.

As an AI practitioner and the author of *Digital Righteousness: Artificial Intelligence, the Digital Divide, and the African Diaspora*, that realization led me to an important question.

We know:

• Artificial intelligence can imitate a voice.
• It can imitate a melody.
• It can imitate a musical style.

But can it create something that resonates across generations the way Michael Jackson’s music has?

I do not believe it can.

And the reason has less to do with technology than with what it means to be human.

From “Thriller” to the AI Studio

Many great songs become popular. Only a few become timeless, and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” is one of those rare works.

Released in 1982, the song blended pop, R&B, funk, theater, and storytelling into an experience unlike anything audiences had heard before. The “gold standard” for analog-era production quality, its influence remains visible more than four decades later.

The genius behind “Thriller” was not one person. It was a remarkable collaboration.

Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Bruce Swedien, Rod Temperton, Greg Phillinganes, Brian Banks, and many others pooled their talents to create something extraordinary. Michael could hear the music in his mind before it existed in the world. He famously sang entire instrumental arrangements into a tape recorder before musicians translated those ideas into notes and performances, soaking the song with his soul. That is creation.

The production process itself became legendary. Engineers created dozens of mixes before settling on the final versions. Every instrument, vocal layer, and sound effect was carefully placed. The result was not simply a song. It was a musical experience.

In 2024, Greg Phillinganes and Brian Banks recreated elements of the “Thriller” sound using the original instruments and production techniques. Their work demonstrated the extraordinary craftsmanship behind the recording and reminded audiences how much talent was required to create that iconic sound.

What is striking about those demonstrations is what was missing.

• There was no artificial intelligence.
• There were no generative music platforms.
• There were no algorithms composing melodies.

There were gifted human beings bringing imagination, discipline, and experience together in pursuit of excellence. That kind of work was slow, requiring musicians, engineers, singers, writers, producers, and thousands of creative decisions to be made.

As someone who grew up listening to the great artists of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, I remain in awe of what they accomplished. They created sounds the world had never heard before. They were not trying to imitate. They were inventing.

Artificial Intelligence or Automated Imitation?

Artificial intelligence is transforming music production.

Many people imagine AI music as a computer creating entire songs from a short text prompt. That does happen. However, most professional uses of AI today are far less dramatic.

In most studios, AI functions as an assistant.

Producers use AI tools to polish vocals, master recordings, separate instruments, generate musical ideas, and speed up technical tasks. Streaming services use AI to recommend songs. Independent artists use AI tools to access capabilities that once required expensive studios.

This ecosystem is often referred to as AI-assisted production.

There is nothing inherently wrong with that.

In fact, these tools can help talented artists bring their ideas to life more efficiently. A young musician in Lagos, Kingston, São Paulo, Mumbai, Seoul, or Baltimore can now access creative tools that were once available only to major record labels.

That is a positive development, but an assistant is not the same as an artist.

Spellcheck can improve a sentence, but it cannot write your life story.

Similarly, while AI can assist with music production, it cannot replace the human experiences that give music meaning.

This is why I sometimes think of AI not as Artificial Intelligence, but as Automated Imitation.

Its greatest strength is recognizing patterns and reproducing them.

Human creativity does something fundamentally different.

Human beings create what does not yet exist.

When Music Is Made by Machines

The more difficult questions emerge when AI moves beyond assistance and begins generating music itself.

Today, AI systems can create vocals, lyrics, melodies, and instrument tracks. Some songs have used AI-generated voices that sound remarkably similar to famous artists. Others have been released by entirely virtual performers.

These developments raise important questions.

• Who owns an AI-generated song?
• Who deserves compensation?
• Should listeners be informed when music is AI-generated?
• What happens when an artist’s voice can be copied without permission?
• Can a machine-generated performance carry the same meaning as a human one?

These questions matter because music is more than entertainment.

• Music carries memory.
• Music carries identity.
• Music carries culture.

A song can tell the story of a people, a community, or a generation.

That is why debates about AI music are ultimately debates about human dignity.

The Future of Music Jobs

Like many technologies before it, AI will create winners and losers.

Some jobs may disappear. Commercial jingles, basic background music, and routine production tasks are increasingly vulnerable to automation.

Other jobs will evolve. Producers, engineers, composers, and independent artists may become more productive by using AI as a creative assistant.

New jobs are already emerging. The industry now needs people who can train AI systems, manage voice rights, oversee licensing agreements, and evaluate AI-generated content.

This pattern is not unique to music. It is unfolding across industries worldwide.

The people most at risk are not always the least talented.

They are often the people with the least access to education, legal protection, and emerging technologies.

That reality makes AI literacy increasingly important for artists and creative professionals.

Why This Matters Globally

Music belongs to everyone. Every culture contributes something unique to humanity’s soundtrack.

African rhythms, Caribbean influences, Latin American traditions, Indigenous music, Asian musical forms, European classical traditions, gospel music, jazz, blues, and countless other expressions tell stories that deserve protection.

If AI systems train on those traditions without permission or compensation, communities risk losing control over their cultural heritage.

This is not merely a copyright issue.

It is a dignity issue.

• A drum pattern may carry centuries of history.
• A vocal style may preserve the memory of ancestors.
• A song may embody struggle, hope, faith, and resilience.

Technology should help preserve those treasures, not exploit them.

Used responsibly, AI can help restore old recordings, preserve endangered languages, connect artists with global audiences, and create new opportunities.

The outcome depends on the choices we make today.

What Responsible AI in Music Should Look Like

The path forward is not complicated.

• Artists should know when their work is used to train AI systems.
• Creators should have the right to consent, refuse, or negotiate compensation.
• AI-generated music should be clearly labeled.
• Platforms should protect listeners from deepfake artists and fraudulent content.

Most importantly, human creativity should remain at the center of the music ecosystem.

AI should expand opportunity, not diminish human value.

Conclusion: The Soul Behind the Sound

Many scientists believe the human brain is the most complex object in the known universe.

Yet even the brain does not fully explain what makes us human.

Across cultures and faith traditions, people have long believed there is something more — something that cannot be measured, digitized, or reduced to data. Some call it consciousness. As a Christian, I recognize the soul as the center of our personal lives — your mind, emotions, will, identity, and life itself — while the spirit is our God-facing inner life, the part of us that worships God.

The soul is where imagination lives.

It is where joy, suffering, love, grief, hope, and faith are transformed into art.

Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” was not simply a collection of sounds. It was the product of human imagination expressed through extraordinary talent, discipline, and collaboration.

Artificial intelligence works differently.

• It recognizes patterns.
• It predicts probabilities.
• It recombines existing information.
• It is remarkably powerful at imitation.

But imitation is not creation.

An AI system can analyze every Michael Jackson recording ever made. It can generate songs that sound similar. It can mimic vocal inflections, rhythms, and production styles.

What it cannot do is experience the human journey that gave birth to those sounds.

• It cannot feel heartbreak.
• It cannot experience wonder.
• It cannot dream.
• It cannot worship, for it has no spirit; it does not possess a soul to pour into a song.

That is why I believe timeless works such as “Thriller” are not products of computation.

They are products of creation.

Technology has always changed music. The microphone changed music. The synthesizer changed music. Sampling changed music. Streaming changed music.

Artificial intelligence will change music as well.

Some of those changes will be beneficial. AI can help artists create, learn, experiment, and reach audiences they might never otherwise reach.

But timeless works are not born from efficiency.

They are born from imagination, courage, struggle, inspiration, and human connection.

They are products of the human soul.

The future of music should not be a battle between humans and machines.

It should be a commitment to using technology in ways that honor and amplify human creativity.

The next time you hear a song that moves you, ask yourself a simple question:

Whose soul is speaking through the music?

The answer may tell us more about the future of humanity than the future of artificial intelligence.

Key Takeaways

• AI is already a common assistant in music production.
• Most professional uses of AI support human creativity rather than replace it.
• Fully AI-generated music raises important questions about ownership, authenticity, and consent.
• Music carries culture, memory, identity, and human dignity.
• The future should focus on human-centered AI that supports artists rather than replaces them.

About the Author

Byron A. Love is the author of Digital Righteousness: Artificial Intelligence, the Digital Divide, and the African Diaspora, a book that bridges the gap between technical insight, public policy, and Christian ethics.

References

Ars Technica. (2024). AI can now master your music — and it does shockingly well.

Billboard. (2024). Biggest AI Music Stories 2024: Drake, TikTok, Lawsuits & More.

People. (2025). How Quincy Jones Helped Michael Jackson Craft the Smash “Thriller”.

People. (2026). Michael Surpasses Bohemian Rhapsody as Highest-Grossing Music Biopic of All Time.

Philstar. (2026). Michael Overtakes Bohemian Rhapsody as Biggest Music Biopic Ever.

Recording Industry Association of America. (2024). Major Record Labels Sue AI Music Services Suno and Udio.

TechCrunch. (2022). SoundCloud Acquires Musiio, an AI Music Curator.

Time. (2024). How Quincy Jones Helped Make Thriller the Biggest Album of All Time.