The Beatles Get By 'With A Little Help From' AI, Band To Release One Final Song

Often called the greatest band to ever exist, The Beatles spent the better part of the late 1960s breaking up, after creating some of the most timeless classics which have inspired generations.

Now, Paul McCartney, one of the two remaining Beatles members who are still alive, told BBC 4 Radio on Tuesday that the world can look forward to the release of “the final Beatles record” this year — a melody brought to life with the help of artificial intelligence.

McCartney told the BBC that AI intervention allowed the extraction of John Lennon’s voice from an old demo to complete the song. The name of the posthumous collaboration remains a secret, although some rumors are swirling which suggest that it might be a 1978 Lennon composition, "Now And Then."

The origin of the tape traces back to a cassette labelled "For Paul," which Yoko Ono, Lennon’s widow, had given McCartney.

The cassette, carrying several songs that Lennon recorded shortly before his murder in 1980, was part of a “reunion song” considered for the Beatles’ career-spanning Anthology series in 1995.

Also Read: ‘I Made Them Up’: Google’s AI Tool Admits To Falsifying Information, Apologizes To Reporter

Peter Jackson’s "Get Back" documentary marked the turning point, McCartney explained, where AI was used to create "clean" audio, by recognizing the Beatles’ voices and separating them from background noises.

The same technology allowed McCartney to "duet" with Lennon on his recent tour, and for new surround sound mixes of the Beatles’ Revolver album to be created last year.

As McCartney noted, "we were able to take John's voice and get it pure through this AI, [so] then we could mix the record, as you would normally do."

The recent application of AI in music, while having extreme capabilities, sparked an array of ethical and legal debates about authorship and ownership.

The fine line between homage and exploitation blurs as AI recreates the voices of well-established artists in an entirely new context.

However, ethical quandaries don’t diminish the emotional resonance McCartney's announcement holds for Beatles’ fans.

After all, it is the final Beatles record to ever be released.

Now Read: Meet Milo J: Tech Money Mastery: How 1 Analyst Earned 46% In Just 4 Days

Photo: Shutterstock