Composer and artist Amr Mostafa's announcement that he will present a song written and composed by him and in the voice of the planet of the East um Kulthum using artificial intelligence technology sparked controversy, after he published a clip of the song on his Facebook page in preparation for its full release at a later time.

Amr Mostafa commented on the clip he posted, saying, "For 24 years, during which I presented many melodies to the stars of the Arab world, and with the development of technology and artificial intelligence, I would love to listen if the planet of the East um Kulthum sang from my melodies."

The comments on the publication came between those who strongly rejected this initiative, considering it an attack on intellectual property rights and a distortion of the history of um Kulthum, and supporters who were enthusiastic about the idea and considered it a "return to the time of beautiful art", some of whom asked to do the same with the voice of the late artist Abdel Halim Hafez, and others advised attention to the clarity and quality of the voice.

Judicial confrontation

As soon as the song was announced, producer Mohsen Gaber, owner of Alam Al-Fan-Mazzika, issued an official statement saying, "No one, including Amr Mostafa, despite my close relationship with him, dares to use artificial intelligence to evoke the voice of the planet of the East, Mrs. um Kulthum, or to use her name and image, as there are eternal moral rights that are not subject to statute of limitations."

He revealed that he intends to "take legal action against any farce or tampering with um Kulthum's voice", according to the statement that concluded that um Kulthum "is a great symbol that no one may copy or tamper."

Amr Mostafa responded to the statement, saying he would work to "revive heritage... But without using a photo or a person's name to preserve the rights of others."

Between experimentation and the disadvantages of technology

Art critic Magda Khairallah commented on the matter in a telephone interview with Tamer Amin on the "Akher Al-Nahar" program, and said that technology has made achievements, but it also causes disasters.

She added that "the experience will be on the size of the presenter," and that um Kulthum "presented songs with Riad Sunbaty, Baligh Hamdi and Mohamed Abdel Wahab, so how will we see them with Amr Mustafa? The greatness of um Kulthum was not only in the choice of words and melody."

Magda says that "there is a big difference between what um Kulthum presented and the song that Amr Mustafa intends to present," and added, "If you evoke a voice, it is difficult to choose the words, melody, special sensation and interaction with the song and music, it is not just one element," and concluded her speech by stressing that "the human element will remain the basis and does not resemble the original."

The music critic Mohamed Attia said in an exclusive statement to Al Jazeera Net that "it is a legitimate and bold experience from a technical point of view." He stressed that he was not against experimentation as long as it would result in new ones.

He said, "We have to wait for what will be produced by Amr Mustafa, especially since we will see um Kulthum in a different formulation and will present it in a song of his words and melodies," and added, "Abdel Halim Hafez was keen during his career to always evolve and follow all new, so he worked with Hani Shenouda in one of his concerts, and if his career lasted more years, he may also collaborate with Hamid poetic in the nineties (of the last century), for example, but um Kulthum was a bit afraid, so the experience will show it differently."

Commenting on the prosecution of Amr Mostafa by Alam El Fan, Attia said that the Egyptian composer in this case cannot be prosecuted because he did not use um Kulthum's musical heritage.

"Artificial intelligence and technology certainly have both pros and conscussions, as they have helped rappers and festivals use programs that help improve their voices that have been exposed on stage, but in the end any artist has the right to try," he said.