In an era where artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the creative landscape, not every artist is ready to embrace it. For Billy Corgan, frontman of The Smashing Pumpkins, the line is clear—and firmly drawn.
Speaking candidly on the podcast And the Writer Is…, Corgan didn’t hedge his stance. “I refuse, refuse, patently refuse to use AI in my music creation,” he said. For him, this isn’t just a preference—it’s a philosophical boundary.
Corgan frames AI as something far more ominous than a helpful tool. “To me, it’s a deal with the devil. Simple,” he explained, invoking mythological imagery like Prometheus stealing fire. In his view, leaning into AI isn’t innovation—it’s self-destruction. “You’re literally leaning into the thing that will destroy you. Period.”
At the heart of his argument is a deep belief in the human struggle behind art. The very challenges that AI promises to eliminate—creative pressure, doubt, and the fear of having nothing left to say—are, to Corgan, essential ingredients of meaningful songwriting.
“The pressure, the inspiration, the soul searching, the ‘I’m not sure I got anything else to say’—that’s all part of the journey,” he said. Removing those elements doesn’t enhance creativity; it strips it of its soul.
Instead, Corgan champions collaboration with real people. Not perfect people, but human ones—flawed, emotional, and alive. “I’d rather work with a real person with real feelings and real blood coursing through their veins,” he said. Even conflict, he argues, has value. Disputes over publishing splits or creative direction are signs that something meaningful exists in the first place.
“If we’re arguing,” he noted, “it means there’s something of value that we’re arguing over.”
Corgan also sees artistic uncertainty not as a weakness, but as a catalyst. The struggle to find a new chord, a fresh idea, or a different voice is where the “magic” happens. It’s an uncomfortable process—but one he believes is worth preserving at all costs.
His concerns extend beyond individual artistry to the broader creative economy. In a stark warning, Corgan suggested that the industry’s growing reliance on AI could lead to its own undoing. “We’re flirting with the thing that will destroy us as an economy, as a business, as a movement,” he said. “We’re asking to be eradicated.”
He also raised concerns about data and ownership, pointing out that artists are effectively feeding the very systems that may replace them. “We’re giving them our information. They already have all our other information.”
Corgan isn’t alone in his skepticism. David Byrne, former frontman of Talking Heads, has similarly criticized AI for “sucking up human knowledge,” though he concedes it can serve as a limited tool when used carefully.
Still, Corgan’s stance is among the most uncompromising. In a time when many artists are experimenting with AI as a collaborator, he’s choosing to double down on humanity—on imperfection, struggle, and the unpredictable spark that comes from real human experience.
For Corgan, the message is simple: the future of art shouldn’t come at the cost of what makes it human.