The Human Signal — with Laura Sheeran

In this episode, I'm thinking through what it means to share work online at a time when artists' images, music, ideas, and creative processes are being absorbed into AI systems, most often without permission. I talk about finding my own music listed in AI training datasets, seeing another artist's costume work replicated through AI-generated images, and the pressure artists are under to keep posti...

Hello and welcome to The Human Signal with me, Laura Sheeran. After an unexpected two-month gap in the podcast, I’m back! The first half of this episode is me explaining what happened, why I ended up going dark for so long. I also talk a bit about the AI watchdog and how I found ten of my songs in the published datasets used to train Suno and Udio… the AI music saga continues… Then in the second h...

Hello and welcome to The Human Signal with me, Laura Sheeran. Today we are looking at part six of my eleven-part series, AIWTF? , which looks at AI in the music industry right now—what’s happening in the digital music ecosystem, the good things, the bad things, the complicated things, and the bits that make no sense at all. We’re looking at all of it. In this episode, I’m trying to make sense of w...

This is part five of an eleven part series called AIWTF? where I am discussing all things to do with AI and music and the digital music ecosystem as it stands today. In this episode, I’m working through the concept of fair use and how it’s being used to justify the current direction of AI in music. It’s something that underpins most of how content is shared online, but when applied to AI training...

Hello and welcome to The Human Signal podcast, this is part four of an eleven part series I’ve made called AIWTF?, about the most recent developments in our increasingly AI saturated music industry. In this episode, I’m talking about a newly launched organisation in the US called AIMPRO, which positions itself as a performance rights organisation for AI-generated music. It’s a very recent developm...

This In this episode of The Human Signal (part three of my eleven part series, AIWFT? ) I’m looking at AI detection technology and the role it’s beginning to play in the music industry. I talk through the rapid rise of AI-generated music on streaming platforms, and how detection tools are being developed in response—but not without serious limitations. I reflect on the reliability of these systems...

This In this episode of The Human Signal (part two in my eleven part series, AIWFT? ) I continue looking at how AI is shaping the music industry, but this time through the lens of the streaming platforms themselves. I compare and talk through the different approaches being taken by Spotify, Deezer, and Bandcamp , and what those approaches reveal about how each platform is positioning itself in rel...

Today’s episode of The Human Signal is the first part of an ELEVEN part series I recorded yesterday about the most recent developments relating to AI and the sinking ship that is the digital music industry. In the series I discuss Suno, Spotify, major labels and how the newest player in the game, AIMPRO, adds a whole new layer of chaos into an already turbulent battlefield. I discuss copyright law...

In this episode of The Human Signal, I talk through the evolving shape of my Electric Picnic show coming up in August. I share how I followed an instinct to learn how to DJ by doing a great lesson with Eimear Keating aka DJ BURE , what that experience was like, and how it helped something click into place creatively with The Persona Project . It made me realise that what I had been calling the “pe...

In this episode of The Human Signal, I’m closing out my series on the Delta flight saga I documented in Episodes #36, #37 and #38, by stepping back and trying to understand what was actually going on beneath the surface of the situation. I examine how platforms and interconnected systems distribute control while avoiding accountability, showing how power operates structurally rather than individua...

Hello and welcome to The Human Signal with me, Laura Sheeran. This episode is fundamentally about returning to the body—through dance, flow, and improvisation—as a counterpoint to control, anxiety, and perfectionism. I’m reflecting on a performance I did last week where I decided to experiment with improvisation in my pole dance practice. Alongside that, there is also a clear tension around time,...

In this episode I talk through the process of self-producing, self-directing, and self-filming a music video for Simulacrum in which I am the only subject. I’m working alone on this one, trying to translate a very clear image that I have in my head into something real on the screen, and running into all the friction that comes with being both the subject and the cameral operator at the same time....

In this episode I reflect on releasing my new single Simulacrum and what that process is revealing about the current state of music online. I talk about trying to protect the integrity of my work in an increasingly extractive digital landscape, the emotional and practical questions that come with that, and the tension between ethical release choices and the need for visibility, connection, and aud...

This episode of The Human Signal examines how major platforms structure and limit how artists and audiences interact online. The discussion focuses on dependence on digital infrastructure, the difficulty of leaving it, and the ethical compromises creators face when deciding where to publish their work. Hello and welcome to The Human Signal with me, Laura Sheeran. Today I want to talk about somethi...

In this episode of The Human Signal, I reflect on a Zoom conversation I recently joined with artists, writers, and thinkers from different creative fields. The meeting was organised by Andrew Simonet and focused on the newly proposed hi-mark , a symbol designed to identify work created entirely by human intelligence. Listening to the discussion, I was struck by how many of us are wrestling with th...

In today’s episode, I’m talking about a new symbol called the hi-mark — a small circle containing the letters “ hi ” for human intelligence . It’s designed to mark creative work that was conceived, developed and constructed by humans only. If you’ve been reading my work for a while, you’ll know this is a conversation I’ve been circling for months. In my article “ ARTISTS IT’S TIME TO TAKE BACK YOU...

In this episode, which I’m recording from New York, I share what actually happened at the airport, how it was resolved, and what it took to get there. It worked out in the end — but only because I refused to back down. If you enjoyed this podcast please share it with a friend or consider leaving a review, it really helps me out. You can also support me by becoming a paid member on this channel to...

In today’s episode, I’m sharing a short update before flying to New York after three days of stressful stonewalling by Delta over their violation of my consumer rights. I talk about how difficult it can be to assert yourself in these situations, how the “Karen” stereotype sits uncomfortably in the background of my consciousness when I try to stand my ground, and how systems are increasingly design...

In this episode, I talk through a situation I’m still in the middle of — my flight to NY got cancelled because of the storm and I’m sucked in a maze of automated customer service systems which has had me going in circles for days. What should have been a simple rebooking turned into a lesson in how incredibly inaccessible customer service becomes with automated systems when things go wrong. I refl...

In this episode, I’m sharing a small update while I’m deep in the final stretch of finishing my record. There are so many loose ends, and I’m feeling the pressure of trying to hold focus while the wider internet feels increasingly overwhelming and destabilising. I talk about brain fog, rumination, the aftershocks of online information, and the discipline it takes to protect my creative space. What...

In this episode, I’m reflecting on missing an Arts Council funding deadline and what that stirred up. There’s been a lot happening — freelance deadlines for important clients, family health issues, my fast approaching record release — there are only so many hours in a week and at a certain point, something has to give. I talk about some of the challenges of freelance life, the unpredictability of...

In this episode, I talk through where I’m at with my ongoing efforts to step away from Google and Meta, and what that process actually looks like in real life. I share what I’ve been testing, what’s been harder than expected, and why I’m taking a slow, gradual approach rather than cutting everything off at once. Right now, I’m in a research and testing phase with different programs and tools, and...

In this episode, I’m talking through the email many of us received from Google about changes to reCAPTCHA, and why it set off alarm bells for me. I reflect on how responsibility and legal liability are increasingly being pushed onto individual users, even when we don’t have real control or understanding of how these systems work. I connect this to my wider decision to gradually remove Google and M...

In today’s episode, I talk through my plans and ideas for a big gig I have booked for later this year. I share what it feels like to let myself dream big, even knowing that not everything will become real. I reflect on past performances, what I learned from them, and how my approach to live work has evolved. This episode is me thinking out loud about scale, collaboration, logistics, including care...

In this episode I talk through where things are really at with the first Persona Project release as the launch date comes into view. I’m juggling unfinished masters, PR timelines, finances, and the reality of doing almost everything myself while simultaneously working freelance across many other projects which are not related this this one. I reflect on anxiety, ambition, and the tension between b...