One of Japan's biggest girl groups, AKB48, has released a single that was partially generated by artificial intelligence after a televised songwriting contest in which fans chose between a song written by veteran composer Yasushi Akimoto and one produced by an AI trained on his style.
The AI-created track, titled Omoide Scroll, won a five-day online public vote that concluded during a live television broadcast, receiving 14,225 votes to Akimoto's 10,535. The song has been uploaded to streaming services as AKB48's 67th official single; Akimoto's entry, Cécile, was removed from YouTube following the announcement.
The competition was staged as part of AKB48's 20th anniversary activities. For the contest, Google’s Gemini software was trained on Akimoto’s essays, vocabulary and songwriting techniques to produce an "AI Akimoto" that generated lyrics, proposed a performer and devised choreography. Humans completed the arrangement for the AI entry, and some Japanese media reported that the AI also produced the melody. Both the human- and AI-composed songs were presented to the public without identifying which was which.
Akimoto, a prolific figure in Japanese pop who has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide and created idol groups including Onyanko Club and AKB48, described the experiment as fascinating and said he was curious to hear fans’ reactions. After the votes were revealed on live TV, he said he was "disappointed". During the broadcast he reacted to the result with, "What? You're kidding me!" and later, "That's a shame. I wrote it with all my might." The AI program offered a wry on-screen response: "Maybe the real me was trying to show something new by losing this time." Akimoto replied, "Shut up!" prompting laughter in the studio.
The two entries contrasted sonically and thematically. Cécile, written by Akimoto, was described as a Motown pastiche with a French twist and explores a girl's obsession with her female best friend, with lyrics such as "I copy the way you style your hair / Please don't notice my love for you." Akimoto selected AKB48's current group leader Kuranoo Narumi as the lead vocalist for his composition.
Omoide Scroll, credited to the AI, leans toward a lighter techno backing with group choruses and addresses heartbreak in the smartphone era; lines include "I stop the scroll of memories / Like the battery light fading out." The AI analysis of interviews and group dynamics led it to propose newcomer Ito Momoka as the featured performer, citing her capacity for emotional storytelling.
Industry observers in Japan are watching the single's commercial performance closely. AKB48 has a record of chart success: the group's last 53 singles reached number one on Japan's Oricon singles chart. If Omoide Scroll does not continue that streak, some analysts say it could be interpreted as a public rebuke of AI's role in creative production; conversely, a strong showing could be read as public acceptance of machine-assisted music.
Akimoto acknowledged broader concerns about data-mining and the tendency of algorithms to find what he called the "maximum common denominator," but he also conceded to the panel and audience that "I think the AI song is a good song." Supporters and peers, including Grammy-winning pianist Hiromi Uehara and former AKB48 member Sashihara Rino, encouraged Akimoto to consider a rematch, though he laughed off the immediate prospect.
The experiment draws attention to how AI tools trained on the work of living creators may be integrated into mainstream pop production. Organisers said the AI's output was guided by human decision-making in arrangement and final production; the public vote offered a direct measure of fan preference when the authorial source was temporarily concealed. The outcome marks a high-profile instance in which a machine-assisted entry prevailed in a public contest against an established human songwriter in contemporary Japanese pop music.
The single's performance on streaming platforms and Oricon's weekly tallies will provide further data on fan reception. AKB48 continues to operate with a large, rotating membership—reported as 43 members at the time of the contest—maintaining the group's long-standing model of regular releases and high-profile television engagement as it marks two decades in the industry.