For the discharge of her twelfth album, “The Lifetime of a Showgirl,” Taylor Swift despatched followers on a web-based scavenger hunt this weekend, which started by looking for “Taylor Swift” on Google. However as followers unveiled secret movies as a part of the marketing campaign, some fretted that the clips regarded like they had been AI-generated — they usually weren’t happy.
A Google seek for the singer’s identify yields a cryptic message: “12 cities, 12 doorways, 1 video to unlock.”
Followers had to determine the placement of the doorways, then bodily discover them and scan a QR code, which surfaced 12 distinctive movies that contained the clues wanted to resolve the puzzle. When followers Googled the right phrase, one other orange door appeared, which followers needed to collectively “knock” on by clicking 12 million instances. Lastly, the door “opened,” revealing a lyric video for “The Destiny of Ophelia,” which has its personal orange door progress bar on YouTube.
YouTube had scored the video unique for the monitor, in addition to the lyric movies from the remaining songs on the brand new album.
Google initially introduced the scavenger hunt in a video on Instagram. The video begins with an aerial view of Earth, then shortly zooms in on a hilly, bejeweled panorama, till we see an orange door, overlayed with a Google search bar.
Whereas Swifties love a puzzle, some had been rubbed the incorrect approach by the 12 clue-containing movies, which appeared to be AI-generated.
As a substitute of looking for clues to unveil Swift’s new lyric video, as Swift meant, some followers started to scour the video clips like detectives, on the lookout for indicators that the scenes had been artificial. Nevertheless, whereas there are clips that look computer-generated, it’s unclear in the event that they had been made utilizing AI, and in that case, to what extent.
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It will make sense if these movies had been generated utilizing Google’s AI merchandise. As OpenAI exhibits off its new Sora 2 video generator, this Taylor Swift collaboration can be a serendipitous alternative for Google to point out hundreds of thousands of Swifties what its Veo 3 mannequin can do.
Google didn’t reply to TechCrunch’s request for touch upon how these movies had been generated or if Swift and Google labored collectively on this activation through the use of Google’s personal AI know-how. However Swift’s staff and Google have teamed up for related promotional actions up to now, we should always observe.
The usage of AI in inventive works is a delicate topic. Some artists suppose these instruments may help them, whereas others have protested the way during which massive language fashions are educated on their work with out consent, successfully utilizing artists’ personal work to create the know-how that might threaten their livelihoods.
Even Swift herself spoke out concerning the risks of AI after President Donald Trump shared an AI-generated picture of her displaying help for his marketing campaign final yr; the incident spurred her to publish an endorsement for former Vice President Kamala Harris, who ran in opposition to Trump in 2024.
“Lately I used to be made conscious that AI of ‘me’ falsely endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential run was posted to his web site. It actually conjured up my fears round AI, and the risks of spreading misinformation. It introduced me to the conclusion that I must be very clear about my precise plans for this election as a voter,” she wrote on Instagram on the time.
The controversy round Swift’s attainable use of AI is amplified given her personal stature within the music business.
Whereas AI might enchantment to some artists as a approach to minimize prices, the billionaire musician has each attainable useful resource at her disposal to deliver the fantastical scenes from her promotional movies to life.
