HYBE unveils AI-generated pop group SYNDI8
You may have never thought of mixing artificial intelligence and pop music, yet here we are. South Korean multinational entertainment group HYBE unveiled its AI-generated pop group SYNDI8.
The group has four members: Canary, Nest, Goyo, and Raven. The mega label also says they originate from the fictional realm of Nansy Land.
READ: How to disable pop-up blockers
Article continues after this advertisementOn June 23, SYNDI8 launched its debut release MVP, which features three singles: “ATOTA,” “True Color,” and “My Fantasy.” You may listen to the last one below.
What do we know about the AI-generated pop group?
Mashable says SYNDI8 uses AI voice synthesis from the AI voice tech company Supertone, which HYBE acquired for ₩45 billion or roughly $32 billion.
Supertone calls its technology NANSY (neural analysis and synthesis), which “has the special ability to device and re-assemble voice components.”
Article continues after this advertisementIn other words, this technology creates artificial speech that mimics human voices. Also, Supertone named SYNDI8’s fictional world after it.
As mentioned, the AI-generated pop group consists of Raven, Canary, Nest, and Goyo. The official website describes them as the following:
- Raven is a hunter from the Common Raven tribe.
- Canary is the daughter of a chieftain from the Canary tribe.
- Nest is the daughter of a scientist from the Great Horned Owl tribe.
- Goyo is the only human in the AI-generated group.
Shortly after their debut from the virtual world, SYNDI8 already faces real-world backlash. Korean culture news website allkpop says some Koreans suspect the AI-generated pop idols “strongly referenced” real-life group aespa.
Pronouncing “Canary” in Korean sounds like “Kanari,” which sounds like an anagram for Kanari, an aespa member. Moreover, they pointed out that Canary’s height and MBTI, 168 cm and ENFP, are the same as Karina’s.
Other examples of technologies merging with pop music
Korean entertainment groups have been integrating the latest tech into the pop industry. For example, entertainment company Modhaus launched TripleS as the “first-ever K-pop group that uses blockchain technology to cast votes for real-life artists.”
Learn more about TripleS in this other Inquirer Tech article. Also, other countries have been integrating artificial voices into pop songs for decades before HYBE.
On August 31, 2007, Sapporo-based Crypton Future Media Inc. debuted the singing voice synthesizer Hatsune Miku. Like the AI-generated pop idols, the company depicts Miku as an anime girl with long-green pigtails.
Crypton says Miku has “over 100,000 released songs, 170,000 uploaded YouTube videos, and 1,000,000 created artworks.” Moreover, Miku has sold out 3D concerts in Japan, Taipei, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Los Angeles.
SYNDI8 seems to be the next evolution of the Vocaloid trend that will make it more popular than ever. Make sure to keep up by following Inquirer Tech.
