There's room for it all, as far as I am concerned.

The important thing for me is, don't imbue these machines with more than they actually have. There isn't an arranger made that is as good as a real band. Sure, you can make someone THINK it's as good, for a short time, but in the long run, it's boring for them, it's boring for you, and it's boring for your soul.

But people will pay well to be bored... LOL

A machine will never surprise you (in a good way, anyway!). A machine will never throw in a substitution you didn't think of. A machine will never tell you if you are off tonight (it helps, sometimes!). A machine will never help you move the PA! A machine will never tell you 'We just did a blues tune, let's not do another one!'. A machine will never lift you to play better than you ever did before.

Real players will. Yes, they'll infuriate you, they'll drink and smoke (as if you don't, LOL), they'll hit on the waitresses, they'll sometimes get too loud, too fast, too 'too'..! But just when you feel like giving up, you'll have one of the most sublime musical moments in your life, and all is forgiven.

That's what's wrong with machines... No emotion, for good OR bad. And music, if nothing else, is emotion. Separate music from the emotion that created it, what do you have left? A product.

Not art.