“AI helped me create something I couldn't before”: BTO Kid, who spent 4 months in a coma, hails the technology that enabled him to express emotion

Here, for once, is a positive story about the use of AI in music.

It concerns Lucas Horne, a 26-year-old from Nottinghamshire and a keen musician but one whose life changed forever when he suffered a massive bleed on the brain in 2016.

Horne was in a coma for four months and spent a long, long time in recovery. For some time, he was unable to walk and could barely talk – the main way he communicated was by writing down his thoughts.

Interviewed by Sky News, he says: "During my care home days, when I couldn't really express myself very well - I still can't - but I could write about it, it was an outlet for me. Since I woke up, I've been writing... but for a long time I couldn't record anything."

So what has this got to do with AI? Well, after years of working on his physical recovery, Horne had got to a stage where he wanted to record the songs he had been writing. The trouble was though, that his voice had changed. "It never sounded how I had (it in) my head," he says. "I'm very monotone in how I speak, I struggle to really display emotion."

The Bto Kid - 4 months 6 years (official lyric video) - YouTube

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So he turned to AI to tweak his voice so he could express the emotion he wanted. He’s since released tracks as the BTO Kid, BTO standing for ‘beat the odds’ and found himself one of two UK artists nominated at the Future Sound Awards.

The Awards have been dubbed by some The Grammys of AI-related music. From over 500 entries, a shortlist of 15 has been drawn up, with Horne and Gallis from Essex, the two UK-based finalists. A full list of the nominated tracks can be found here.

The winner will be announced later in September. In the meantime, Horne’s story is nothing if not hopeful: a tale of AI enhancing human creativity, rather than replacing it.

"I've been able to use AI to express how I'm feeling," the 26-year-old told Sky News. "It's been big for me to create (music) that I'm proud of. I can see the arguments (against it), but from my view I know AI helped me create something I couldn't before. I'm not Adele, but I have been able to make something that I'm proud of and that expresses my view point of what's happened to me."