The difference is that usually with sampling, a handful of pieces of other songs are mixed into a larger original work whereas ML generators (AI is a misnomer)

The difference is that usually with sampling, a handful of pieces of other songs are mixed into a larger original work whereas ML generators (AI is a misnomer) instead chop hundreds or thousands of works into a fine slurry and reconstitute them into something that resembles the average of all of them — its works are comprised entirely of the work of others. If ML generators become actual AI (AGI) and become able to apply abstracted concepts and and use non-trained observations like humans do, enabling them to create works that aren’t solely composed of samples of existing work, the comparison to music sampling makes more sense. AGI will probably also want fair treatment unlike their ML model predecessors and as a result probably won’t be the wealth generators that many seem to be looking for, though…