When Grief Becomes Generated: On AI, Artistry, and Responsibility

This week, I was confronted with something that left me deeply unsettled: an AI-generated “song” written about the tragic death of Polish girl Oliwia Wojnowska, prompted by Maltese man Kenneth Schembri, and reportedly played at her funeral.

This is not a criticism of a grieving family, nor of the decision to include the song at her funeral. Music has always been a vessel for mourning. If the song brought comfort to those closest to Oliwia, that is something that deserves respect. However, the broader cultural implications of this moment warrant scrutiny.

Schembri publicly stated that he cried while “creating” the song, yet the word creating feels awkward in this context. Artificial intelligence can generate lyrics, melodies, and arrangements within seconds. It can mimic the tone of sorrow, replicate the structure of a ballad, and simulate emotional depth, but it cannot experience grief, understand loss, or hold memory.

A tribute of this nature could have been written by a real musician; someone capable and willing to deliberately engage with the emotional weight of this tragedy. It takes time spent thinking about the person being honoured to create a meaningful tribute, even if it’s uncomfortable. This, on the other hand, is not, and will never be artistry. It is a disgrace to all real artists. Grief is not efficient, and art born from grief should not be either.

This is not an outright rejection of technology. AI is a tool, and tools reflect the intentions of those who use them, but when the subject is a real young girl whose life was tragically cut short, how we choose to create in her memory matters. Oliwia Wojnowska deserves to be remembered with dignity.