AI-composed song beats AKB48’s veteran composer in fan vote
For their 20th anniversary, AKB48 fans chose an AI-generated track over a song by Yasushi Akimoto in a televised contest.
AI-composed track wins AKB48 songwriting contest
As part of their 20th anniversary celebrations, pop group AKB48 held a televised contest pairing veteran composer Yasushi Akimoto against an artificial intelligence trained on his writing style.
Fans pick AI over human writer
The public was presented with two songs: "Cécile," written by Akimoto, and "Omoide Scroll," generated by AI. When votes were tallied live on Nippon TV, "Omoide Scroll" won by a margin of over 3,000 votes, prompting surprise from Akimoto.
"Omoide Scroll" has since been released as AKB48’s 67th single, while the human-composed track has been removed from YouTube. Industry watchers are now focusing on Japan’s Oricon chart, where AKB48’s previous 53 singles all reached number one.
AI steps into music production
Google’s Gemini AI was trained on Akimoto’s essays, lyrics and songwriting techniques. It generated the new song’s lyrics, selected performer Momoka Ito and suggested choreography. Human musicians finalized the arrangement, although some reports suggest the melody was also AI-assisted.
Composer reacts to AI challenge
Yasushi Akimoto—often called the "Steve Jobs of otaku culture"—admitted he was disappointed but praised the AI track’s quality. Encouraged by peers for a rematch, he expressed concern over technology’s ability to identify the "maximum common denominator" but conceded that the AI song was "a good song."
The success of an AI-generated song over a veteran composer underscores the growing influence of artificial intelligence in the music industry.
This topic was reported by BBC News.
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