The lesson here is twofold. The first applies specifically to this moment in history when it seems like the machine is poised to take over every creative bastion — witness the fear whipped up by the allegations that a Commonwealth Prize recipient this year used AI.

2 min read May 30, 2026 07:00 AM IST First published on: May 30, 2026 at 07:00 AM IST

At the age of 83, Paul McCartney has produced his 18th solo LP. Is this what human striving looks like in the age of the algorithm? No doubt McCartney’s creative energy has always been close to superhuman: It is evident in the sheer depth, volume and imaginative leaps of the Lennon-McCartney songbook as well as the prodigiousness of the musician’s post-Beatles output. But long before AI-generated music started sneaking onto Spotify playlists, McCartney was combining this immense talent with hard work to create an important chunk of the music on which the technology was trained.

The lesson here is twofold.…