As students frantically rush down the halls on the way to their first class of the day, music starts flowing from the speakers. Everyday, there is a new song, but the music remains constant. From “Cruel Summer” to “Stacy’s Mom”, Technology Support Specialist Kurt Kohls receives emails from teachers and club sponsors with paid-for-music in the form of an MP3 file to add to the morning playlist.
One song in particular, “Warhawk Belong”–commonly referred to as, “the AI music”–has stirred a lot more chatter than usual.
It all started with Spanish teacher Carmen Rincón’s love for the Madison 2024-25 school year theme, ‘you belong here’–a slogan that encompassed her hopes for each of her students.
“I reflect a lot about how to connect with my students because I think that really makes a difference,” Rincón said. “Some students come to class and they are not connected. They have a lot of potential but just don’t feel that belonging.”
Rincón decided to put these thoughts into action when she stumbled upon an artificial intelligence (AI) powered app, Suno, that could create a song based on whatever words or messages the user input. She was intrigued, and that’s when the idea of a Madison ‘you belong here’ song came to her.
“[I want to do] anything I can to help our students feel welcome and trust us,” Rincón said. “The purpose is really to create a good community.”
Execution took only a few clicks: she simply selected her desired music style and shared her intentions, generating the lyrics eventually destined for the school wide loudspeaker.
This action, while small, raises a larger question of when it is ethical to use AI in school.
Using AI for song formation is simple and quick–especially compared to other methods of music creation. But does that warrant the use of it?
“Our school says AI is bad, never use AI, anyways we’re going to use AI music and AI images all the time even in our slideshow about not using AI,” Riley Zacharia (’27) said.
The problem isn’t just that this piece of music appears to many to be hypocritical, but that in a school with as many resources and potential options as Madison, the art being displayed is the work of a robot.
“There’s so many other human-made stuff that we could listen to, and instead, we have AI music being played,” orchestra and choir member Camila Nunez (’26) said.
There has been an ongoing struggle about the impossibility of keeping AI out of schools. While there seems to be an interest in finding constructive ways to channel AI, the rollout of these efforts have been uneven, leaving students feeling generally confused. There is a feeling of disconnect between what is said inside the classroom and what is demonstrated outside of it. In a climate with increasing concerns around arts and humanities being replaced by AI, there is an air of uncertainty. Because of the conflicting messages received regarding the use of AI, “Warhawk Belong” doesn’t resonate with most students in the way it is intended to.
“You’re not trying hard enough to connect with the students,” musician Sundar Das (’27) said.
