Singer Taylor Swift is facing backlash on social media for allegedly using artificial intelligence (AI) to generate videos used to promote her new album, The Life of a Showgirl.
The videos are part of a viral promotion in several cities in which QR codes help fans look for “orange doors,” with 12 doors across 12 cities, echoing the focus on the album being her 12th new release.
Newsweek reached out to Swift’s representatives and Google by email outside of normal business hours on Sunday afternoon for comment.
Why It Matters
The use of AI in media quickly took focus a couple of years ago due to the writer and actor guild protests in Hollywood that took place shortly after ChatGPT’s public release and the frenzy around the new technology and its implications.
Shawn Simpson, a visiting lecturer to the University of Pittsburgh, wrote in an op-ed last year for Newsweek that “for many artists this movement [AI] will mean the loss of their ability to keep themselves afloat with their art. Many will increasingly have to rely on day jobs—with the hope that those jobs will afford them enough time to make art—while others will simply have to leave the profession.”
Hollywood has also been in an uproar following reports that movie studios were looking to broker a deal with talent agents to hire an AI actor named Tilly Norwood.
The Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) President Sean Astin told Variety that the guild would “look forward to a healthy, constructive conversation with agencies to make sure that we continue to help each other” in light of the reports about Norwood.
What To Know
The videos included in the “Orange Door” marketing campaign show hidden lounge areas and puzzles for Swift’s fans to pick apart, with all sorts of visual clues and messages in the usual easter egg tease the pop star has fostered across her career.
The videos appeared after fans found QR codes in 12 cities: Melbourne; London; Chicago; Nashville, Tennesse; New York; Paris; Milan; Berlin; Santa Monica, California; Las Vegas; Barcelona; and Beverly Grove, California. Each video ended up providing a word that ended up combining into the message: “You must remember everything but mostly this: the crowd is your king.”
However, some of the more eagle-eyed observers noticed discrepancies in the videos that many have taken as proof that AI was used to generate at least parts of the content.
In the London video, a small Ferris wheel has details along its spokes that blur and shift as it moves, and at the end of the video, a coat is hanging on two coat hangers that merge into one as the camera swings around to the front.
Fans immediately divided over the use of AI to create the videos, with some finding no issue in using AI for the project while expressed disappointment, while some said that AI in art was a “line” that they never expected Swift to cross. Still, others noted hypocrisy that Katy Perry was criticized for allegedly using AI visuals for her tour, but that Swift’s fans would seemingly forgive her for using AI.
The Taylor Swift subreddit, which had a discussion aggregating the clues and message, noted that the videos “are most likely AI generated. We typically do not allow AI content, but given that this is somehow related to the album push we are clearly going to keep this thread going.”
Some fans on X started tagging posts with #SwiftiesAgainstAI, while another tag, #WeLoveYouTaylor had started to trend on Sunday afternoon. It is unclear if the latter is in response to a specific issue or to some of the wider criticism against Swift following the new album’s release.
Were AI Videos Part of a Taylor Swift and Google Collaboration?
Some have speculated that since the scavenger hunt kicked off with fans searching for Swift on Google that the project could in fact be part of a collaboration between the artist and the tech company, likely to promote Google’s Veo video maker and AI products.
Comments on Reddit suggested the videos were made with Google AI and the two parties “miscalculated the response.”
Others noted that the lack of promotion by Swift of the project might indicate that Google acted alone, but the videos were initially posted to YouTube reels associated with Swift’s account and have been taken down following the negative reaction.
The videos, however, remain active on The Eras Tour X account.
What Has Taylor Swift Said About AI?
Swift has a complicated history with AI, having been the target of deepfake posts and videos that replaced her face on other actors, in most cases used to create pornography.
President Donald Trump also posted an AI-generated image that showed Swift as Uncle Sam endorsing him over then Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, using an image that had originally been generated to have her endorsing Joe Biden. Swift, in reality, ended up endorsing Harris.
In a post on Instagram, Swift wrote at the time: “Recently I was made aware that AI of ‘me’ falsely endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential run was posted to his site. It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation. It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth.”
Fans have also resurrected Swift’s comments made during the release of her first re-recorded album, an initiative she undertook to gain control of her music after the masters were sold to a third-party—albums now known as “Taylor’s Version.”
“Artists should own their own work for so many reasons, but the most screamingly obvious one is that the artist is the only one who really *knows* that body of work,” Swift wrote in a message on X (then called Twitter).
Read the full article here
