Dr Dre says the only people who fear AI are those who ‘have trouble creating’

What the American rap producer's thought process looks like

The producer made the comments in an interview alongside his longtime business partner Jimmy Iovine, published on Sunday by the New York Times and reported by Variety.

Dre, founder of the Aftermath record label and co-founder and chief executive of Apple's Beats, said he does not see AI "as a threat", and drew a blunt line between those who are worried by it and those who are not.

"I think the only people that see it as a threat are the people who have trouble creating," said Dre.

Why Dr Dre's framing matters

Coming from one of the most influential producers in hip-hop, the comparison with the synthesiser is a pointed one: instruments that once triggered alarm about the death of "real" music ended up defining the records made with them.

Framing AI the same way puts Dre on the permissive side of an argument that has split the industry, with the value of the tool resting on what the person at the desk does with it.

Whether the rest of the business agrees is the question the next few years will settle, and the answers will come release by release rather than in a single verdict.

In the meantime, the machines are being pointed at everything, even asking AI to predict the Premier League season.