---
title: "Listen To An AI’s Nightmarish Beatboxing"
description: "Musician and sound artist Holly Herndon's new track 'Godmother' combined electronic beats and her own human voice using a neural network."
date: "2018-12-04"
modified: "2018-12-04"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/ai-baby-spawn-holly-herndon-jlin-godmother"
categories:
  - "Artificial Intelligence"
tags:
  - "ai music"
  - "artificial intelligence"
  - "neural network"
---

# Listen To An AI’s Nightmarish Beatboxing

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/ai-baby-spawn-holly-herndon-jlin-godmother.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Holly Herndon\</em\>*

## Beats By AI

There's something deeply unsettling about listening to a neural network recreate music.

We've heard music [composed and written by an AI](<https://futurism.com/a-new-ai-can-write-music-as-well-as-a-human-composer>). We've even listened to music [*produced*](<https://futurism.com/the-worlds-first-album-composed-and-produced-by-an-ai-has-been-unveiled>) by an AI. But have you ever listened to an "AI baby" recreate electronic beats using only the sampled voice of its creator?

No, we haven't either. But that's essentially what renowned composer and sound artist Holly Herndon has done in her latest release, "Godmother." And to call it unsettling or unnerving would be an understatement. Listen for yourself:

https://youtu.be/sc9OjL6Mjqo

## AI Offspring

With the help of her partner Mat Dryhurst, Herndon fed electronic beats by artist Jlin to a neural network. They then reinterpreted those beats using only Herndon's own — human — voice. The result is what Herndon and Dryhurst lovingly call "Spawn" or "AI baby."

And before you recoil in horror, the music isn't supposed to be appealing or easy to listen to. Herndon intends to confront the alien nature of artificial intelligence in her work.

"I find something hopeful about the roughness of this piece of music," she wrote in a press release, as [quoted](<https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2018/12/04/672758884/holly-herndons-ai-baby-sings-to-her-godmother?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nprmusic&utm_term=music&utm_content=203004>) by *NPR Music*. "Amidst a lot of misleading AI hype, it communicates something honest about the state of this technology; it is still a baby. It is important to be cautious that we are not raising a monster."

**READ MORE:** [Holly Herndon's AI Baby Sings To Her 'Godmother'](<https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2018/12/04/672758884/holly-herndons-ai-baby-sings-to-her-godmother?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nprmusic&utm_term=music&utm_content=203004>) \[NPR\]

***More on AI music: [This Musician Created an AI to Write Songs For Him, And They're Pretty Strange](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/musician-ai-songs>)***

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)