Man and Machine - Behind The Scenes
When I wrote Man and Machine, I was wrestling with a strange sense of emptiness in my work. These days, I’m mostly creating with AI, and while I’m excited by its potential, I can’t ignore the feeling that something essential is slipping away. My work seems to lack that human depth, the “soul” that makes art truly impactful. It’s ironic, really—the whole point of AI is to streamline the creative process, yet the more I rely on it, the less personal and authentic the output feels. This tension is woven into the lyrics, especially in lines like, “It’s too perfect, and it feels wrong. Where’s the heart that makes the song?” It’s a frustration I felt strongly, and I wanted to channel it directly through the music.
The music video itself draws heavy inspiration from Björk’s All Is Full of Love, directed by Chris Cunningham. That video made a huge impression on me when I first saw it in the mid-2000s. Cunningham’s black-and-white, hyper-polished cyborgs felt like something Apple would design—robots with a strangely human allure. I wanted my video to pay homage to that iconic aesthetic, so I leaned into a similar look, aiming for that sleek, robotic yet eerily lifelike feel.
For the song’s mood and tone, I wanted to capture a sense of frustration and unease. It’s a track that isn’t afraid to feel mechanical, almost cold, yet it’s underscored by a little ache. Getting the right vocal was a process in itself, going through multiple generations until I found the right balance of emotion and detachment. There’s a guitar melody in there that, to be honest, I’m not the biggest fan of, but it was one of those moments where you have to either accept what’s working or keep going down the rabbit hole of endless iterations. The whole vibe is “futuristic, melancholic, electronic, acoustic, introspective, tense, experimental, emotive”—a combination that I think fits the theme perfectly.
Creating the video with AI was intentional. Part of me wanted to see how well AI could render robotic forms, but it also felt fitting to let AI be part of the process of a song about AI itself. I could have gone down the traditional 3D route, but I wanted to keep the process fast and in line with my current approach, using AI tools wherever possible. Plus, there’s an irony in having a song about AI struggles produced by AI—it adds a layer to the narrative I couldn’t have achieved otherwise.
The video’s theme sticks closely to Björk’s original concept; I can’t deny it’s a direct homage. I wanted to see if AI could recreate that same feeling and aesthetic, even though I knew it might fall short. I didn’t approach it as my own vision but as an experiment in how closely AI could replicate an existing style. And, while it came close in some respects, it’s definitely a diluted version of the original.
To balance humanity and technology in the video, I didn’t just settle for whatever visuals the AI generated. I carefully selected each shot and pieced together a sequence that felt right, matching the video’s pacing with the song’s energy. There were many discarded shots that didn’t quite align with the vision. AI may have done most of the initial heavy lifting, but I was still involved in shaping the outcome and ensuring it had a human touch.
Initially, I had this ambitious idea to make the robot lip-sync to the lyrics using AI. The plan was to record myself singing and have the robot’s mouth movements match mine, but I hit some serious snags. A lot of angles looked uncanny or just plain terrible, and in the end, I had to scrap it. I still feel like that element could’ve taken the video to another level, but it just wasn’t viable in its current form.
Ultimately, I hope people feel a mix of pride, frustration, and maybe a little defiance when they watch Man and Machine. I want them to see that while this technology is impressive, it’s still missing something essential. I want viewers to walk away feeling that AI, despite its capabilities, isn’t ready to replace human-made art.
Man and Machine is about acknowledging AI as a tool—an interesting, even exciting one—but also recognizing its limitations. AI-generated art misses the imperfections, the quirks, and the emotional depth that make something feel truly alive. In the end, the message is that, no matter how advanced AI becomes, there’s no substitute for genuine human emotion and creativity.
