This month we’re looking at AI in marketing, music and art. Read on to find some of our favourites.
Beth’s pick: Musical collaboration between Drake and The Weeknd
After a new musical collaboration between Drake and The Weeknd surfaced online recently, many people probably would’ve taken it at face value. Although the track itself feels unpolished, the voices sound authentic and believable, as if the two artists had actually worked together in the studio. However, the creator of the song revealed that they had trained bots on the existing vocals of the artists, and the end product was the result of AI. It’s not known whether the creator, known online as Ghostwriter, recorded the vocals themselves and then used AI to imitate the voices of Drake and The Weeknd, but the result poses strong questions about the authenticity and creativity of AI compared to human-produced material.
Before being taken off streaming platforms, the song racked up over half a million listens on Spotify, so who actually benefits in this scenario? Aside from copyright infringement, there are many ethical issues and unanswered questions on the future of AI-generated songs and how this will be policed in the future to protect artist originality and authenticity.
Georgie’s pick: The Melbourne Writers Festival ‘The Art of Words’
The Melbourne Writers Festival last year used the power of AI to bring classic novels such as War of the Worlds, Dracula, and Frankenstein to life. The results are captivating and almost haunting yet beautiful captured in a dreamlike world with the campaign titled ‘The Art of Words’. They used Mid Journey, an AI bot that turns written prompts into artwork to create the images. I really like how they captivate the audience, but it also raises the question of what it means for the future of the arts industry if we continue to rely on bots and AI-generated imagery.
Chris’s pick: AI Reimagined Colgate Ads
What happens when you team up some of the world’s biggest brands with an AI image generator? We get a nightmare-inducing glimpse into the potential of AI-driven creativity that is oddly satisfying and looks remarkably like the next David Firth creation. Ad agency, 10 Days, is the brains behind the AI-generated reimagined ads from some of the most iconic brands.
Laura’s Pick: Harry Potter in the World of Wes Anderson
Harry Potter and Wes Anderson was a combination I wasn’t expecting to see, but when I was scrolling through LinkedIn It’s exactly what I found! Generated by users of Midjourney, I had to look twice as I the images looked very realistic. Midjourney is an generative artificial intelligence program and service created and hosted by a independent research lab Midjourney, Inc. The team create really eye-catching and on trend images using AI.
Gemma’s pick: Casey Neistat’s ‘AI Made this Vlog’
YouTube personality Casey Neistat recently released a video entitled “AI Made this VLOG,” in which he tasked ChatGPT with writing a script for his vlog. The brief instructed ChatGPT to create a vlog in a specific location with a given topic, and Neistat followed the resulting shot list and script to create the video.
While the ChatGPT script segment was brief, it succeeded in capturing Neistat’s distinct style and essence, but Neistat noted that it felt robotic and lacked the creativity of a human touch. This criticism is particularly interesting given the current hype around AI and its potential to revolutionise content creation.
Neistat’s commentary raises important questions about the role of AI in creative fields. While AI can certainly assist with the technical aspects of content creation, it is unlikely to replace the creativity and flair that humans bring to the process. This is evident in the ChatGPT-generated script, which successfully executed the visual aspects of the vlog but fell short in delivering a compelling story.
Despite these limitations, the use of AI in content creation is an interesting topic with significant implications for the future of the industry. Neistat’s video serves as an important reminder that while AI can be a powerful tool, it is ultimately human creativity that makes for truly compelling content.