It really depends on the style of music being played and the quality of the DJ.

I’ve heard some DJ really elevate tracks with the way they’ve mixed them. I myself would typically have two or more tracks playing at once (more than 3+ deck mixes when playing on vinyl turntables or up to 5 channels when playing from Ableton) and using that to layer percussion loops over older electronica and industrial tracks to make them sound fresher and more club friendly.

I’ve also heard some DJs completely ruin songs by badly mixing a sparsely engineered track (ie something set at a particular tempo but sounds a lot slower) after something heavier and more pounding, thus sucking the energy out of the second track.

Even with pop songs where there isn’t a whole lot you can actually do with them, I’ve heard some DJs take average or even bad pop songs and drop the hook between some really good songs and do so in a way that really compliments both. Resulting in the otherwise average pop song sounding better than it normally would if it were played in full.

Not to mention there’s DJs who spin their own remixes of tracks. DJs who seek out bootlegs. DJs who bring fx and synths to gigs. And all the other creative stuff going on beyond just spinning other peoples records.

I remember spending a few weeks trying to track down a song I’d heard on a mix tape one weekend, only to discover it was actually two different tracks. an instrumental electro with an a cappella layered over it. It sounded perfectly mixed as if it were originally released like that.

I also remember spending months tracking down a remix of Leftfield’s Space Shanty, which I heard then play on a Radio1 essential mix. Turned out that was a one off pressing they made for a few gigs in ‘93.

DJing is a really diverse scene and those that play the in bars of your local high street pub or the guys that entertain your drunk uncles at your sisters wedding are really only the upper most tip of the iceberg in terms of DJing.

If you can't tell the difference between a dj and playlist or AI then the DJ is terrible.

Probably, but DJing is a fun social activity. The DJ puts a bit of themselves in the mix. I think an AI for music mixing isn't really solving much of a problem. It's just a neat trick in my opinion. Making fun and skill obsolete is sad!

Humans can set the input configuration for the AI and then filter the generated content. AI could generate too much content for anyone to hear, so there's value in human curation.

Have a go at mimicking a daft punk setlist, they make it look easy - it's not. The techniques are often simple but art is not about technique

But missing someone pretending to turn knobs.