Kuopio dance teacher draws millions of views with AI political satires

A 75-year-old dance teacher in Kuopio has attracted 13,000 YouTube subscribers with satirical songs and videos made using artificial intelligence, Yle reports. His videos have been viewed 2.5 million times over the past year.

Juhani Kuosmanen became interested in AI two years ago and initially made the videos for his own amusement. He has since produced 275 videos, including about 100 music videos. The rest are satirical short films and parodies featuring familiar politicians.

Kuosmanen writes the lyrics himself, then asks AI to compose music in a style he chooses, from tango to rock or jazz. Making one song can take several days as he listens to dozens or even hundreds of versions before choosing one.

Many of his videos take aim at politics. One recent video, “Little Red Riding Hood and a Hitas apartment,” addresses housing policy through fairytale characters. Another, “The battle for the gravy train,” comments on the government-opposition dynamic.

Kuosmanen says he tries to poke fun at politicians equally and without causing offence. A couple of politicians have sent him positive feedback, he says. His videos are labelled as AI-made.

About half of the tracks uploaded to streaming services are now produced by AI, according to statistics cited in the article, but they account for only about one per cent of listening.

Timo Korhonen, a principal lecturer at Turku Arts Academy who has studied AI use in the music industry, says human creativity will remain valuable. He describes AI as a useful tool, but says generic AI-produced music needs the personal touch of human creators.

Kuosmanen says he will stop making music when AI can write better lyrics than he can. For now, he sees working with the technology as a way to keep his mind active. At least one of his music videos has been played on a radio station.