Lorde called out Spotify over the streaming service’s “About the Song” AI feature on Thursday, after the AI shared incorrect information regarding the context of one of her songs.
“I’m going to go out on a limb and say we don’t want this,” Lorde wrote in an Instagram Story.
“About the Song” is an AI tool from Spotify that is currently in beta, released to limited users back in February. The tool scrapes third-party sources to compile additional information and context about individual tracks. In the case with Lorde, according to her screenshot, the AI appears to have pulled from the website themusic.com.au, writing that on her recent Ultrasound tour, the singer “turns Current Affairs into a full-on performance piece, stripping down to underwear while a dancer pours water over her stomach so the song plays out like the shower scene she talks about on stage.”
“Not only is this inaccurate (not the song i did that in) but reducing a song to an ai generated meaning right at the source feels like it limits free interpretation imo,” Lorde wrote. “At least make it possible for artists to opt out please.”
Lorde’s comment reflects the sensitivity that still surrounds AI among artists and creatives in the entertainment industry. SZA, for example, told I-D earlier this year that she feels she’s “at war because of AI.”
