Why an AI Voice Will Never Replace a Real Singer

I’ve spent my whole adult life in studios — some tiny, some huge, some chaotic, some magical — and one thing has always been true: the human voice is never just sound. It’s history, breath, instinct, nerves, joy, and a hundred little accidents that make the performance alive.

These days I get asked more and more about “AI vocals.”Are they coming for singers? Will everything become synthetic? Is it the future of Eurodance?

Look, I’m not against technology. I’ve worked with machines, synths, samplers and every strange piece of equipment Italy threw at me in the 90s. I love tools that help us create. But a tool is a tool — and a voice is a person.

A voice is a life lived

When you hear a vocal take, you’re not just hearing notes. You’re hearing the breath I took after laughing with the producer. You’re hearing the late-night tiredness after a 12-hour writing session. You’re hearing the emotion I carried with me from home, from life, from everything I’ve lived.

AI can imitate tone. It can imitate timing.Sometimes it’s impressive — I’m not denying that.

But it can’t imitate intention. It can’t improvise the little “oops-but-keep-it” moments that become hooks. It doesn’t know what heartbreak feels like, or adrenaline, or stage fright, or joy.And that’s exactly where the magic comes from.

Music isn’t perfect — and that’s the point

Eurobeat and Italian dance music were never about perfection.They were about energy, fun, instinct, and human chemistry in the studio.All those songs we created — “Try Me,” “On My Own,” “The Rhythm of the Night,” and so many others — worked because real people were in a room, reacting to each other, inspiring each other, pushing each other.

AI doesn’t get goosebumps. AI doesn’t laugh. AI doesn’t say “WAIT, WAIT—let’s try something crazy!”

And until it can do that, it’s not replacing any of us.

AI is a tool, not a singer

Do I think AI can help? Absolutely. It can speed up demos, help producers sketch arrangements, even help with ideas. No shame in that — creativity has always evolved alongside technology.

But a finished record?A performance that moves people?A song that stays with you for 30 years?

That still comes from a human.

The real fear? Losing connection

Not between artists and fans — that will stay.But between artists and themselves.

If young singers start thinking they should sound “as perfect as AI”, they’ll lose what makes them special.Your voice is yours.Your imperfections are your identity.Music history was built on imperfections.

So what now?

As for me, I’m still here — writing, recording, creating, and loving every moment of it. Technology can help me, inspire me, challenge me… but it can’t sing for me.

Not now, not ever.

Love,Annerley