On the 13th of June 2023, Paul McCartney revealed to the BBC that he used artificial intelligence (AI) to help create “the final Beatles record”. The revelation was made in a BBC radio interview, where he said that AI was used to extract John Lennon’s vocals from a previously recorded track. Is it ethical, we all have a view, here is mine.

“Think about me every now and then, old friend.”

These were John Lennon’s last words to his former bandmate, Paul, before his untimely passing in 1980.

Almost poignant and often prophetic, John must himself have appreciated the lyrical quality of those final words, so much so that he penned a song, Now and Then, recorded it on a tape deck and labelled the tape, ‘For Paul’, perhaps as a goodbye, maybe even a new hello and the start of a new collaboration.

We will never know.

One thing we do know, however, is that demo has long since been considered a lost Beatles record and was attempted as an Anthology track in the 90s before George Harrison had his say and the session was scrapped.

The demo was excluded from that record due to concerns about its audio quality, expressed by George, but with advances in technology, it seems that completing the track is back on the table again, with Paul announcing that a final Beatles song, surely this one, will be released later this year.

This unprecedented application of AI, the same that was used to polish the footage and audio for Peter Jackson’s ‘Get Back’ documentary, raises profound ethical questions regarding the boundaries of art, consent, and the posthumous usage of John’s work.

The concept of using AI to recreate the vocals of deceased artists is not entirely new, we would have all of course seen the holographic tours of Elvis and Roy Orbison as well, and in pursuit of profit, there are always boundaries that can be pushed.

But I really don’t think that is the case here, I genuinely don’t think that Paul or Ringo are motivated by that, I just think they are excited to finish what they started back in those Anthology sessions and use the songs release to book-end the Beatles career.

In that sense, this feels like goodbye.

In the last year alone, Paul has played Glastonbury, Ringo is touring as we speak and there has also been the release of Paul’s autobiographical ‘Lyrics’ book and also the release of the photobook and accompanying exhibition, ‘1964 – Eyes of the Storm’.

You can’t help feeling that the loose ends of the Beatles story are being tied up and that means more to the remaining Fabs than the inevitable ethical questions they will get over their use of technology to bring John and George back for one last hurrah.

Yes, it could be said that by resurrecting a demo that was intentionally omitted, the Beatles are treading a fine line between honouring Lennon’s legacy and potentially overriding his judgment, but they appear to be doing so to fulfil an obligation to create something special from that gift that John had given Paul.

That cassette tape was clearly meant for Paul, and he wanted to share it with the world. Following John’s death, he shared the story of his last meeting with John with his friend and hero, Carl Perkins. So moved was Carl by these words he included the lyric in his song ‘My Old Friend’. Playing the track to Paul, it’s said that the Beatle was so overwhelmed by emotion, that when he heard the borrowed line, he was forced to leave the room.

That love that Paul had for John is so pure it must have more than a little to do with him releasing this track, it feels certain that this is unfinished business and if it takes a little help from his friends (and a bit of AI) to get it across the line, who are we to deny him his wish to have this song heard.