I’ll never forget reading Nick Cave’s takedown of ChatGPT last year. He didn’t just dislike it; he absolutely torched it. He called an AI-written lyric
“a grotesque mockery of what it is to be human”
and a sign of the apocalypse. For anyone worried that AI would strip the soul from art, he was our dark, poetic champion. He went on record saying that anyone using AI for art was helping to erode
“the spirit of humanity itself.”
You can’t get much more definitive than that. He was the final boss of AI skepticism.
So when I saw his latest newsletter, my jaw hit the floor. The impossible has happened: Nick Cave has softened his stance on AI. And it’s all thanks to his friend, a re-animated Elvis Presley, and a little bit of behind-the-scenes creative rebellion.
This story is awesome. His longtime collaborator, director Andrew Dominik (the genius behind films like Blonde and The Assassination of Jesse James), had been secretly working on a project. For the 40th anniversary of the Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds track Tupelo, Dominik decided to make a music video using AI. He didn’t tell Cave, probably because he knew Cave would’ve shut it down instantly.
✨ The Reveal: An AI King is Born
The video features an AI-generated Elvis. Using old photographs, Dominik’s AI brought Presley back to life in a surreal, floating dreamscape that retells the story of the song. When Dominik finally showed the finished product to Cave, the reaction wasn’t the fury he might have expected. Instead, Cave and his wife Susie were, in his own words, “blown away.”
He didn’t see a “grotesque mockery.” He saw a
“soulful, moving, and entirely original retelling”
of his own work. He was captivated by the “uncanny quality” of the AI Elvis, saying it felt like the King had been “raised from the dead.” The ending, which apparently has some heavy resurrection imagery, he described as
“both shocking and deeply affecting.”
🤖 The 180° Turn: From Skeptic to Believer
This one video experience was enough to make him completely rethink his hardline stance. It’s a perfect example of seeing the potential versus just hearing the hype. It moved the conversation from the abstract to the tangible.
Let’s break down the transformation because it’s a huge deal:
- ❌ Old Cave: AI is the enemy of the human soul. It’s a cheap imitation, a soulless machine mimicking true creativity. It represents an existential threat to artists and humanity.
- ✅ New Cave: In the right hands, AI is just another tool. A powerful one, sure, but a tool nonetheless. It can be used to create something that feels deeply human, spiritual, and moving.
As he processed it, he came around to his friend’s simple, powerful idea:
“It’s a tool, like any other.”
Mic drop.
💡 The Real Takeaway: The Strength in Flexibility
This is where it gets really interesting, and it’s a huge lesson for all of us navigating this weird new AI world. Cave didn’t just quietly change his mind. He wrote about it publicly and framed it not as a weakness or a defeat, but as the ultimate sign of strength.
He wrote:
“I believe that the ability to change one’s mind is the very definition of strength.”
Think about that for a second. In a world where everyone is digging in their heels and picking a side, he’s making the case for intellectual humility. He argues that the true path is to
“pursue the truth wherever it may lead, remaining flexible and humble enough to adjust our views as new evidence emerges.”
His closing line on the subject is pure gold and something we should all probably tattoo on our brains:
“Rigidity breaks; flexibility endures.”
🚀 My Final Thoughts
This story isn’t really about one musician changing his mind. It’s a powerful parable for our times. The debate around AI often gets stuck in a binary of “good vs. evil” or “human vs. machine.” Cave’s experience shows us a third way. The tool itself isn’t the point; it’s the intent, the skill, and the heart of the person using it.
Andrew Dominik didn’t just type “make a video for Tupelo” into a prompt box. He used AI as a paintbrush to execute a specific vision that honored the song and its subject. And in doing so, he created something so powerful it changed the mind of one of AI’s biggest and most eloquent critics.
It’s a reminder to all of us, creators, builders, and consumers, to not get locked into our first impressions. Stay curious. Be willing to be “blown away.” Because being flexible isn’t just how you survive change; it’s how you thrive in it.
- The Song’s Origins and Themes: Tupelo is the opening track on the 1985 album The Firstborn Is Dead. The song’s narrative blends the historical event of Elvis Presley’s birth in Tupelo, Mississippi, with the stillbirth of his twin brother, Jesse Garon. It uses apocalyptic, biblical imagery to frame Elvis’s arrival as a messianic event, which aligns with the new video’s interpretation of him as a “Christ-like figure.”
- Cave’s Previous AI Critique: Nick Cave’s initial criticism was detailed on his blog, The Red Hand Files. In response to a fan who submitted a song written by ChatGPT in his style, Cave wrote a lengthy essay condemning it, stating,
“This song is a grotesque mockery of what it is to be human and, well, I don’t much like it.”
His recent shift in perspective is therefore a significant departure from a deeply held, publicly stated position.
- Dominik and Cave’s Collaboration History: Director Andrew Dominik and Nick Cave have a long-standing creative partnership. Dominik directed two acclaimed documentaries about Cave’s life and creative process: One More Time with Feeling (2016), which documented the recording of the album Skeleton Tree following the death of Cave’s son, and This Much I Know to Be True (2022).