Hatsune Miku is Not AI (But It’s Complicated)
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TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro
00:28 What is Vocaloid?
02:02 Hatsune Miku
04:00 The Actual Musicians Behind Vocaloid
06:26 Ties to Japanese Culture
08:44 Vocaloid & AI (Are Not The Same)
11:04 What The Future Holds
ROYALTY FREE ASSETS USED
Video by Timo Volz
Video by RDNE Stock project
Video by Sheraz Khan
Video by cottonbro studio
Video by Ron Lach
Video by Tima Miroshnichenko
Photo by BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash
Video by Pressmaster
@Sopran0livia
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
I think something important not touched on in this video which I think is an understandable thing for an outsider to miss is that the vocaloids are still the voices of real people who have given their consent to have samples of their voice recorded and used for the software (well, most of the time, there is a Vocaloid of a dead Japanese singer but he’s private use only). The biggest problem with Ai is that it is stealing the voices of real people without any consent, which I think is a valid thing for any artist to be upset about. If i remember correctly it was a big conversation in the voice acting world a bit ago of companies using an Ai model of their VAs voices against their knowledge which rightfully made the VAs upset. I think that in general is a huge distinction of Vocaloid vs Ai, Saki Fujita was paid money for the software to you her voice and signed a contract knowing what she was getting into (or at least somewhat knowing, I don’t think she could’ve predicted how big Vocaloid could’ve gotten). It’s not like Dua Lipa gets paid everytime someone uses an Ai mimic of her voice. I think it is a little dystopian to not have rights over your own voice people anyone can just make your voice say something you’d never say.
@vsm123-o7t
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
bro kinda sounds like miku ngl
@ButOliviaPL
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
Sister of Five from Numberblocks it's true
@ReneSchickbauer
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
"popular in other countries BUT IN THE STATES…". Frankly, who cares. The US is only about 4% of the world population anyway, so pretty much small fish for a global thing like this trend.
@hypotheticaltapeworm
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
It's nothing like AI? AI is fed data and when prompted spits out some sort of amalgam of that data based on algorithms in order to predict what the requester wants.
Saying Vocaloid is like AI is like saying MIDI is AI. It's a sound library you command like a piano.
@suyinsama
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
PEAK VIDEO 😻😻🩵🩵
@Nomarura
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
I will say, for your concern about producers and their visibility, vocaloid fans may have a favorite synthesizer, but the first thing they’re going to do if you’re talking is recommend their favorite producer and ask you yours!
@facepalmmedia
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
The Vocaloid software is programed the same way a musical instrument would be programed on a DAW. The vocals in the program are based on a real human, then digitized. All the animations are made by a person. There is no AI used at all, its not that complicated.
@BlackburnBigdragon
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
While the technology is interesting, Vocaloid stuff is DEFINITELY not for me. Hahaha! But then again, I really don't enjoy Kpop, dance music, or pop music in general. And I've never liked anime either. So pretty much, the entire culture that swirls around this technology and the stuff that's being produced with it really… is just something that I'm not into. It's not the technology that puts me off. It's just that the styles of music and the aesthetics of the genera really are not for me.
@Hulderkall
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
One thing to also note in the conversation of replacing vocalists between vocaloids and genAI "artists" is that of sourcing and compensation.
We all know how modern genAI models like chatGPT and Suno sources its data. It's scraped and stolen off every corner of the internet and mushed together with no regard to the licenses, copyright, credit or respect of the human artists, and in this case vocalists, who's work and labor has been stolen and spat back out again
Vocaloids are also trained on vocalists, however a traditional vocaloid is trained off licensed vocalists who the voicebank producer have to hire and pay to work for them and who will be further compensated through licensing and the sales of the voicebanks themselves.
If your voice becomes a vocaloid, you're its voice actor. If your voice becomes an AI "artist", you're a victim of identity theft
@Taylose6
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
You would twerk for this slop, I thought you were cool
@FinalLychee
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
One thing I don't think is fair is saying the producers aren't known or respected "in the space." Maybe the ultra casual newcomer side of the community isn't aware of them, but guys like Ryo and Deco27 are basically treated like royalty in the community. And most voice synth fans with more than a surface level interest probably have a favorite producer.
@rosevoidx
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
i doubt ai singers will ever get popular to the point of vocaloid, or even accepted. the key with vocaloid is the producer, there's still the songwriting aspect. theres a respect fans have (or at least, should have in my opinion) for producers who put in the work because we understand that its not as easy as telling a computer "go make me a cool song". whereas with ai, even if JUST the vocals are made with generative ai and none of the melody, lyrics or instrumental (which i dont even think is possible yet with suno, iirc that gives you a full song), theres still that thought of, oh, you used ai here so how do we know youre not using ai everywhere? like the way people lose respect for artists, even mainstream artists (i remember seeing a kpop group get backlash although i cant remember which group) when they use ai visuals in a music video or album cover; even if the song itself is written by a human, even if it has human "soul" behind it (thinking of xania monet's song about miscarriage), it's still "tainted" by the use of ai because the trust between creator and fan is gone. if that makes sense?
@rosevoidx
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
i'd consider vocaloid as more of a stylistic thing then a straight up replacement for vocalists… yes it makes songwriting more accessible to people who cant sing to save their lives but because most vocaloids arent human sounding its more of an intentional choice, i know theres songs like roki and get wild that incorporate human voices next to the vocaloids for contrast. even as the technology improves and gets more realistic i see people still go back to the old voicebanks, such as people using utau teto when theres the much more realistic/less robotic sounding synth v teto
@astrolopitekos
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
Wait. Anime was HUGE in the 90s around Europe. Dragon Ball / Dragon Ball Z were ingrained in pop culture. All kids played dbz games in school screaming kamehame against each other. Folks in university would skip class to watch DBZ in the cafeteria tv etc. Definitely not niche 👀
@livingironicallyindelware
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
how many people need to make a video about this miku is a voice synthesizer the newest model usses LLMs to help improve pronuction its that simple
@Trashweebx
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
Hatsune miku has been around for like 20 years lol people who think shes ai just arent tapped in
@KIFFIR
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
wait until he discovers Neuro-sama LUL
@vinyllp9963
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
Hatsune Miku isn't an artist she's a very unique instrument
@peachplays7176
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
I think there is a lot to expand/view a change in with more exposure to vocaloids and their music. I will say, I think your comment on “the artist” behind the vocaloid is a huge thing to recognize in terms of the musical culture.
A few suggestions for some recent producers would be Flavor Foley (which I believe is a group) and Jaime Page. On that end, I would also suggest looking at a recent Star/character of the vocaloid genre in Teto. She’s a red haired vocaloid that has had a major rise in popularity along with some great songs!
@hexagon-pentagon
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
9:04 Depends on the producer. While most of them do tend to leave in that glitchy tech-y timbre to the voices there are producers who like to go above and beyond for the tuning of their song (and some of them can get ridiculously human sounding) though admittedly they are the exceptions
@deusocha16
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
You need to look up Project Voltage, the official Vocaloid x Pokemon collab who just finished their live concert two days ago (which I attended)! So much communal spirit and bonding at the event over 3 decades of Pokemon and 2 decadea of Vocaloid
@RobertHill-y4i
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
Oh btw momone momo sings the nyan cat meme
@rozenrabbit2618
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
As a Vocaloid fan of 14 years getting this video in my recommended was mildly frightening because someone outside my orbit talking about something so precious to me is a little nerve-racking because they often get it wrong lol. This video is really great and I really appreciate the work I can tell you have done in becoming more knowledgeable on the subject. One minor grip is that people typically use the term voice bank not sound bank but aside from that a lot of of care was put into this and again I do really appreciate it
@AnnamiBananami
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
So I am a cover artist who sings vocaloid songs online for the past 13 years and I have watched the vocaloid community and scene grow a lot over the years and I remember around 2015 or so when Miku started getting international fame a lot of did bring up the fact they thought vocaloid were the future and would replace human singers but that actually never came to pass.
At that time I and many others stated it wouldn't happen because nothing can replace the actual human voice and vocaloid was never about Miku herself it was always marketed as a tool first for people to use and the fact they let her design be used for a community proved that too. Like she is a pop star made by some label, she is mostly used by random people in their bedrooms who want to create and share something cool.
Also the types of vocaloid voices and genres in vocaloid are insanely vast. Like a bossanova Miku song exists and that is an amazing thing to see! But yeah another great video and I am glad you are talking about vocaloids because I love them.
@gibletti
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
i don't get it, when does peace walker show up
@user-vb6lq9il5v
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
TLDW: It's a musical instrument that roughly mimics human speech. Move along.
@Official_MikeyT
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
She isn't AI and it isn't hard to explain. Miku is a vocal synthesizer just like any other instrumental synthesizer.
@owlmerangwastaken
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
never liked the corporate mascot element of it, always felt the same as if the wendys girl was singing to me or something
@ghostbear121
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
Do a video on Ado's song please. She's the greatest singer ever. 💙
@md005-t9b
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
I swear, the video title got changed like 10 times since the first time i've viewed it😂
@lasvoss01
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
Community engagement is kepping alive a lot of things in general
@shApYT
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
I think it is the incentive structure around the tech that sets vocaloid apart. AI is pushed as this sigma grind set tech to get rich quick instead of being sold as a tool.
@cyberzh0rafm
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
I think the two main reasons people confuse vocaloid for ai is marketing. before ai music tools got to the current point, vocaloid was seen as AI singers, although not primarily, and 2010s AI music had to have similar levels of human input as vocaloid tuning. Now AI music requires barely any human input, that sentiment is much quieter in the new gen fans. However the vocaloid softwares are now marketing AI integration, Synth V primarily markets itself as a tool for doing demo vocals with more control than a fully AI tool for this job (SynthV seems to have a massive disconnect with it's userbase and is most egregious with the AI push, removing manual mode entirely in Synth V 2 [hence why I refuse to update]) of the 4 big vocaloid software (vocaloid (Miku), SynthV (GUMI), CeVio (Tsudumi), & UTAU(Teto)) UTAU is the only one that hasn't used AI in it's marketing and doesn't have an "AI mode," this could at least in part be due to UTAU never having an "Auto mode" and requiring the user to input everything manually. so the term AI has always been floated around our virtual idols, it's just moved to the marketing department instead of the fanbase in the 2020s. From what I've heard and read (I don't live in Japan or USA so take this with a lot of doubt) the Japanese seems more friendly to AI than the Yanks so this is probably more a case of the vocaloid companies marketing domestically and product pages not being translated leads to a lot of confusion on this matter to new fans outside of Japan, and especially towards people from the United States who seem to have a moral panic whenever they hear 'AI' instead of understanding the nuance to the context.
@pedoca4377
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
Absolutely great video! As a person who lived Hatsune Miku's hype era, i'm so happy to see we're having this discussion nowadays! It's such an important debate to think, specially with the AI advances. Again, ty so much Mic ❤
@AstroIsWatching
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
4:29 UTSU-P MENTIONED (image)
@L0calLEGEND
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
The initial thumbnail was more iconic imo. I don't care too much for this one. I will agree that the red backgrounds was kinda meh.
@astralikeagoodboy42
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
this video is very helpful, mind if i use it for the school paper lol
@Veilure
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
Begging you to look at Iyowa
@n-ambursa1353
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
he changed the title like 5 times 😭
@Poetic9
June 4, 2026 at 3:37 pm
Not sure if you’ll ever see this, but I’d love to see an Al Green Deep Discog Dive. 🙏🏻
Comments are closed.