“I used to give myself a hard time about imperfections – the challenge now is finding out what makes it human”: Guitarists need to change their approach in the face of AI. Just ask Charlie Cunningham, the acoustic virtuoso fusing Meshuggah and fingerstyle

Charlie Cunningham.

In the past you had to be able to play to create any kind of music – but the arrival of AI has overturned that completely. Now you can go from a standing-start to streaming audio without touching an instrument or performing a note. So once you take away the mechanics of music creation, what’s left?

UK guitarist and songwriter Charlie Cunningham is not your typical AI protestor. He’s no technophobe; he has long blended tech and technique in beautiful acoustic-centric songs that interweave subtle synth and soundscape elements in a stunningly evocative fashion.