AI helped a musician with Parkinson’s finish his new album when he could
no longer play guitar
[May 30, 2026]
By MUSTAKIM HASNATH
LONDON (AP) — Samuel Smith spent years writing songs with a guitar in
his hands.
Now, the London-based singer-songwriter is using artificial intelligence
tools to help him continue making Americana music after Parkinson's
disease largely took away his ability to play guitar.
Smith, who was diagnosed with the progressive neurological disorder in
2020, recently released his second album, “The Art of Letting Go.” For
one of the eight tracks, an instrumental piece titled “Horizon,” he
relied on platforms that use AI to generate music to create demo
arrangements that would convey his vision to the musicians who recorded
the song.
The demos he created by humming rough melodies into his phone and
uploading the recordings into song generators like Suno and Udio weren't
for mixing into the final studio version of “Horizon,” Smith stressed.
But tremors, stiffness and fatigue, which are common symptoms of
Parkinson’s, caused his guitar skills to deteriorate during the more
than a year he worked on the album, he said.
“So then I’m faced with a question,” Smith, 49, said. “‘Don’t play,
don’t be creative, or find a way out, find a route.’ And for me, this
was the route.”
Generative AI has divided the music industry, whose artists and record
labels have complained of their copyrighted work being used to train the
models behind AI-powered music tools. Sony Music Entertainment,
Universal Music Group and Warner Records sued Suno and Udio in June
2024, although Universal later reached a settlement and partnership deal
with Udio and Warner did the same with Suno.
Less discussed is what those platforms can do when employed by a serious
musician like Smith, whose disease affects the tools central to his
songwriting and identity as a guitarist: his hands. He released his
debut album, “In the Springtime,” in 2023, saying he wanted to give his
two sons a way to remember when he could perform and record music
himself.
“I’d always written, I’d also played, I always sung," he said. "And
immediately it became clear to me that I was in trouble, that my music
was going to be seriously compromised.”
From prompts to convincing demos
AI music generators use systems trained on large datasets of recorded
music and audio. The platforms analyze patterns in melody, harmony, and
rhythm before generating new audio based on prompts or uploaded
recordings. Users don’t need musical talent to end up with a serviceable
song, or even a popular one.
Smith said producing convincing demos from the synthetic tracks the apps
generated often required “50, 100, 150 attempts” and extensive editing
"to get something that sounds close to my music.” After humming a song
into his phone and uploading the recording, he gives prompts describing
instrumentation, mood and style. .
“AI is not replacing anything for me,” he said. “It’s unlocking, it’s
enabling. It’s allowing me to keep writing. I upload my lyrics; AI
doesn’t create my lyrics. I upload my music; AI does not create my
music.”
He added: “It then brings it to life in a way that I can play to session
players and say, ‘Here, that’s what I’m thinking, that is what I’m
hearing.’”
A bittersweet guitar duet
The album was produced by Grammy-winning pianist and producer Matt
Rollings, who assembled a group of established roots and bluegrass
musicians for the project. They included dobro player and 16-time Grammy
winner Jerry Douglas, Grammy-winning banjo player Alison Brown, fiddler
Stuart Duncan, guitarist Bryan Sutton, bassist Viktor Krauss and singers
Jonatha Brooke and Glen Phillips.
For Smith, the experience of singing in a Nashville studio alongside
musicians he had admired for decades was "an extraordinary moment.”
Grammy-nominated guitarist Julian Lage, known for his jazz and acoustic
recordings with Blue Note Records, performed on the album’s title track
and on “Horizon.” The latter recording became a bittersweet high point
in Smith's career; despite the progression of his disease, he managed to
play a guitar duet with his friend.
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Musician Samuel Smith edits audio at his home, in London, Tuesday,
May 12, 2026, (AP Photo/Mustakim Hasnath)
 “I hadn’t been able to play for
months, but I kept telling myself that if I wrote something to take
to the studio, perhaps the clouds would part for a few minutes,"
Smith said. “That’s what happened. I had a window of about 10
minutes in the studio when my arm freed up. ... So in the end, I was
able to capture the last breath of my guitar playing.”
New possibilities and perils
Experts said AI-assisted music tools could benefit other people with
disabilities or illnesses.
Ruaidhri Mannion, a composer, music producer and sonic artist who
teaches at Brunel University of London, said technology like
affordable digital recording software "effectively democratized the
making of music” in recent decades. By helping songwriters and
musicians communicate ideas and collaborate more easily, AI tools
that generate polished-sounding material from voice or text prompts
could work in the same way, he said.
“If these tools are able to enable people to be able to participate
with other creative groups and encourage more people to feel
confident to be able to reach out to an ensemble or an orchestra or
something, then I think that is all for the better,” Mannion said.
But an overreliance on technology could intefere with the trial and
error, frustration and synergy that are necessary parts of a
musician's artistic development, Mannion said.
“What makes a lot of music-making meaningful is the collaborative
element,” he said. “There’s a lot of experimentation and development
and failure that’s part of musical discovery.”
Udio and Suno have denied copyright infringement allegations and
said they wanted to work with the music industry, not in opposition
to it. Some musicians are unconvinced. A group of recording artists
and activists, including singer-songwriter Tift Merritt, David
Lowery of the bands Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven, and ECR Music
Group President Blake Morgan, published an open letter in February
under the heading “So no to Suno.”
“Many in our community are embracing responsible AI as a tool for
creation, and as a means for fans to explore and interact with our
artistry. That’s wonderful,” the letter read. “But it’s not the same
as creating an environment where AI-generated works sourced from our
music are mass distributed to dilute our royalties or, worse yet,
reward those actively seeking to commit fraud. Artists need to know
the difference.”
‘Show us what you can do’
Smith said he thinks his experience demonstrated how AI could
benefit society and expand creative access, if it's developed
responsibly.
“My message would be that if these companies want to show they’ve
got a place, a role in society, then step up,” Smith said. “Engage
with health professionals, engage with music therapists, engage with
society and show us what you can do.”
On May 21, Smith collaborated with the Berklee Music and Health
Institute for an event in New York that brought together music
industry leaders, researchers and clinicians to examine how music
can support people living with neurological conditions. Smith
discussed his experience living with Parkinson's and sang again
alongside musicians who played on “The Art of Letting Go.”
Creating music is crucial to the legacy Smith hopes to leave for his
children, ages 4 and 17.
“My 4-year-old is probably never going to remember me playing, and
it’s heartbreaking,” he said. “But I’ve been able to pull this into
something and refuse to be defined by this disease.”
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