In this week’s edition of “AI: good or bad?” we have a brand-new Beatles song, “Now and Then.” It’s an abandoned John Lennon demo that artificial intelligence rescued technologically and then enhanced with a little help from some friends – Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.   

In some ways, it’s a triumph. But there’s also an inescapable “uh, what next?” vibe. If AI can help edit people out of our beach photos or bring back the Beatles, how long until we get a new Ella Fitzgerald album? And is that exciting – or just plain weird? 

We wrote on AI and cars this week. Look for our story next week on how musicians are using AI in innovative ways that are perhaps a bit less existentially ambiguous.