{"id":2932,"date":"2025-09-17T13:48:22","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T13:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/menamagazine.com\/?p=2932"},"modified":"2025-09-17T13:48:22","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T13:48:22","slug":"japanese-girl-group-release-ai-assisted-single-after-fan-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themena.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/17\/japanese-girl-group-release-ai-assisted-single-after-fan-vote\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese girl group release AI-assisted single after fan vote"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of Japan’s biggest girl groups, AKB48, have released a single that was partially generated by artificial intelligence, after a televised songwriting contest.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The competition saw composer Yasushi Akimoto, whose songs have collectively sold more than 100 million copies, go head-to-head with an “AI Akimoto” trained on his writing style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They each composed a new song for AKB48 as the group celebrated their 20th anniversary. Fans were presented with both tracks and asked to vote for their favourite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The results were announced live on Japanese TV – with the AI song, Omoide Scroll, winning by more than 3,000 votes. “What? You’re kidding me!” Akimoto responded as the scores were revealed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Results
The AI song was crowned the winner after a five-day online vote<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The song has now been uploaded to streaming services as AKB48’s 67th official single.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The real Akimoto’s song, called C\u00e9cile, has been deleted from YouTube.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Japanese music industry will be watching closely to see how fans react to Omoide Scroll, now they know it was machine-generated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Japan’s Oricon singles chart will provide the ultimate litmus test – as AKB48’s last 53 songs have gone to number one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If their new record breaks that streak, it may be regarded as a rejection of the technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The band’s seventh album, Nantettatte AKB48, topped the Japanese charts last December<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Yasushi Akimoto is one of the most prominent writers and idol-makers in Japanese pop, and was once called the “Steve Jobs of otaku” – a Japanese term for people with an obsessive interest in a specific hobby such as anime or video games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is responsible for creating chart-topping bands including Onyanko Club, AKB48 and their various spin-offs; and is a professor at the Kyoto University of Art and Design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the AI songwriting contest, Google’s Gemini software was trained on Akimoto’s writing style, including essays, vocabulary and songwriting techniques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It then generated the lyrics for a new song and chose which of AKB48’s members (there are 43 in total) would perform the lyrics and choreography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The song itself was completed and arranged by humans, although some Japanese media reports say the AI software was also responsible for the melody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Akimoto followed the same process, and the two songs were put to a public vote, without revealing which was which.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entries were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • C\u00e9cile.\u00a0<\/strong>Written by Akimoto, it is a Motown pastiche with a French twist. The lyrics describe a girl’s obsession with her female best friend: “I copy the way you style your hair \/ Please don’t notice my love for you<\/em>.” Akimoto chose AKB48’s current band leader Kuranoo Narumi to sing the lead vocal.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Omoide Scroll.\u00a0<\/strong>Written by AI Akimoto, takes a more modern approach, with a lite-techno backing and a group chorus. The title means “memory scroll” and the lyrics depict heartbreak in the smartphone era: “I stop the scroll of memories \/ Like the battery light fading out<\/em>.” After analysing interviews with AKB48, the AI chose newcomer Ito Momoka to perform the song, highlighting her ability with emotional storytelling.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    \"Members
    The members of AKB48 posed with “AI Akimoto” after their victory<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    In the run-up to the contest, Akimoto was philosophical about the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    “Everyone keeps asking me, ‘What will you do if you lose?’,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    “It’s fascinating to think that AI could create such a great song, and I’m looking forward to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    “I’d like to hear [fans] say, ‘I never thought of that!'”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When the votes were counted, the AI won by 14,225 votes to Akimoto’s 10,535.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Speaking on live television, the musician admitted he was “disappointed” by the loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    “That’s a shame. I wrote it with all my might,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The AI program was also asked for a response, and commented: “Maybe the real me was trying to show something new by losing this time.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    “Shut up!” Akimoto retorted, prompting laughter in the studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The composer was comforted by Grammy-winning jazz musician Hiromi Uehara and former AKB48 singer Sashihara Rino, who encouraged a rematch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Akimoto laughed off the suggestion, but expressed frustration about technology’s ability to mine data and find the “maximum common denominator”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    However, he conceded: “I think the AI \u200b\u200bsong is a good song.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    One of Japan’s biggest girl groups, AKB48, have released a single that was partially generated by artificial intelligence, after a televised songwriting contest. The competition…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2933,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[141,4,36],"tags":[42,225,197,134,226,227,37],"class_list":["post-2932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","category-international","category-technology","tag-ai","tag-akb48","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-japan","tag-music","tag-song","tag-technology"],"yoast_head":"\nJapanese girl group release AI-assisted single after fan vote - The MENA News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One of Japan's biggest girl groups, AKB48, have released a single partially generated by artificial intelligence AI\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/themena.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/17\/japanese-girl-group-release-ai-assisted-single-after-fan-vote\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Japanese girl group release AI-assisted single after fan vote - 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