Fred again.. speaks out on AI in music as he argues that “the process is the magic” amid the technology’s growing role in music creation

Fred again.. is the latest electronic artist to speak openly about AI in music, joining a growing list of producers discussing its role in the creative process. Artists including John Summit, Diplo, Steve Aoki, David Guetta, Alan Walker, Zedd and deadmau5 have already shared very different views in the wider AI music debate. Their opinions range from embracing the technology to questioning how much influence it should have over music creation. Fred again.., however, approaches the debate from a more personal place, focusing on what the process of making music means to him and why “the process is the magic.”

Fred again.. on Why the Process Matters

The note Fred again.. shared was something he had written almost a year earlier before finding it again and deciding to post it. In it, he questions the way people talk about AI music and offers a different way of looking at the debate. “The opposite of AI music maybe isn’t human music. It’s making music,” he wrote, shifting the focus away from the finished result and back toward the act of creating.

He goes on to describe making music as part of his identity, his meditation and his “daily compass.” The repeated attempts, mistakes and small decisions that come with turning an idea into something real are exactly what he values, which is why he sees little appeal in using AI to bypass them. As he puts it, “the process is the magic,” and the work itself is “the thing we are most lucky to get to do.”

A Different View in the AI Music Debate

As AI becomes more common across music, the conversation has started to split between artists who see creative possibilities in the technology and those who question what may be lost along the way. Some have focused on copyright, ownership and the use of artists’ voices or work without permission, while others have experimented openly with AI as another production tool. Fred again.. is coming at the subject from somewhere else. His concern is less about whether AI can produce convincing results and more about what happens when technology begins replacing parts of the creative process people once had to work through themselves.

That distinction is important to what he shared. Fred again.. is not arguing that every new tool should be rejected, nor is he trying to decide what counts as “real” music. Instead, he keeps returning to the experience of making something, including the uncertainty and repeated attempts that happen before an idea finally works. At a time when AI can shorten parts of that process considerably, his argument is that efficiency is not always the point.

Why the Message Fits Fred again..’s Music

Much of Fred again..’s own work has come from material gathered from everyday life, particularly across the Actual Life albums. Voice notes, conversations, recordings from his phone and fragments of other people’s lives became part of songs that often feel closely tied to the moments they came from. The process of finding those pieces, returning to them and turning them into music has therefore been part of his work for years.

Seen in that context, “the process is the magic” feels less like a reaction to the latest AI debate and more like an extension of how Fred again.. already approaches music. As AI continues to develop and more artists decide where it belongs in their work, his position leaves a different question hanging over the conversation: not simply what technology can make, but what musicians may lose when they no longer need to make every part themselves.