Sir Paul McCartney makes clear AI not used to create any aspect of forthcoming Beatles' release

Sir Paul McCartney has clarified on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that “nothing has been artificially or synthetically created” in the production of a new Beatles song that used an AI technique to "extricate” John Lennon’s voice from a cassette recording of track’s demo.

AI technology was used on the unreleased Beatles track from the 1970s original demo recording, but not to to create any aspect of the new song; the technology was simply deployed to transplant John Lennon’s voice onto the new recording.

McCartney has not revealed the title or any lyrics from the song, which is set to be released later this year and is widely believed to be a 1978 Lennon composition titled Now and Then.

“We were able to take John’s voice and get it pure through this AI,” said Sir Paul. “Then we can mix the record, as you would normally do. It gives you some sort of leeway.”

McCartney has since expanded on the process in a social media post, amid concerns growing concerns in the music industry about just how exactly AI will affect the livelihood of future musical artists.

“We’ve seen some confusion and speculation about it,” the musician wrote. “Seems to be a lot of guess work out there.”

“Can’t say too much at this stage but to be clear, nothing has been artificially or synthetically created. It’s all real and we all play on it. We cleaned up some existing recordings – a process which has gone on for years. We hope you love it as much as we do,” he wrote.

AI has become a particularly divisive topic in the music industry.

Earlier this year, an AI-produced song called Heart on My Sleeve went viral for simulating the voices of Drake and the Weeknd.

Universal Media Group, home to both artists, successfully petitioned to have the song removed from streaming services – though the track instigated widespread discourse surrounding ethics and intellectual property rights in the music industry.

In the BBC interview earlier this month, McCartney called AI both “scary” and “exciting”.

“It’s something we’re all sort of tackling at the moment and trying to deal with,” he said. “It’s the future. We’ll just have to see where that leads.”