Many visitors to the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu have noticed themed music playing at the top of every hour — and many more have been surprised to learn that these 17 songs were generated by artificial intelligence.
The Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation says no state funds were used to produce the songs, and according to HDOT spokesperson Shelly Kunishige, the state pays around $10,000 annually in subscription fees to play music by Hawaiian artists in the state’s main airports.
Still, local musicians have not been thrilled by the use of AI in Hawaiʻi’s largest airport.
HPR spoke with Roger Bong, owner of the record shop and label Aloha Got Soul, to learn more.
“What if the airport starts putting up images created by AI of Diamond Head or Waikīkī Beach or Haleakalā?” he said, comparing the songs to AI-generated imagery. “What if you walked in, whether you're living here or you're a visitor, and the first thing you see is an AI image of Hawaiʻi?”
For Bong, the joy of creating and listening to music comes from knowing it’s the product of human creation.
“You can just type some prompts in and out comes a result. But when it comes to something like music, art…they need to have the sacrifice, the struggle, but also like the heart and the soul going into it for the result to be something worth enjoying,” Bong said.
Bong was the host of “Mauka to Makai” on HPR, and his label recently released a 17-song compilation called “Music for the Airport.” It's Aloha Got Soul’s 100th release, and their human-made response to the AI headlines.
For many of the artists featured on “Music for the Airport,” the compilation’s release was a significant opportunity to share their art with the public.
“Some of these artists on the compilation, like I've met them before the pandemic, licensed music from them before the pandemic, and they and I have been patiently waiting for the right time to represent their music to the world,” he said.
Mackey Fearey, Joanie Komatsu and Keoki Cortez are among the local musicians featured on the compilation.
Jetsetters and local music lovers alike can visit the Aloha Got Soul website and listen to “Music for the Airport” as well as pre-order vinyl records of the compilation.
This story aired on The Conversation on May 5, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
