As with all things related to the launch of any Taylor Swift album, all the components for The Life of a Showgirl were meticulously worked out and in place starting last week, from teaser trailers to release-day events to talk-show appearances. And all went according to plan — except, say some Swifties, for one aspect that’s unnerved and angered them.
Timed to the album’s multi-layered kick-off, physical orange doors began appearing in cities around the world — Nashville, London, Las Vegas, among them — each sporting QR codes that connected fans to brief travelogue-style videos evoking those locales. But some Swifties say they’ve noticed odd irregularities in the clips, which can still be found online. A squirrel that, for a fleeting second, doesn’t have a fourth limb. Different fonts used for the same letters in a notepad. A gym treadmill with a mangled display of the word “stop.” Light shining through a window that doesn’t match its shadow on the floor. Dumbbells in a workout room that don’t seem to match.
And with those sightings arose… The Life of an AI Theory. Since last weekend, a chunk of the Internet, including some Swift fans, have become convinced that the pop star or her team used AI technology for some of those promo clips. TikTok accounts pointed out the “inconsistencies” and expressed grave disappointment with the idea that Swift would turn to such technology rather than hiring professional artists to create the visuals — especially after having her own likeness used in a 2024 AI video that falsely suggested she was endorsing President Trump. “It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation,” Swift said then, after the appearance of videos in the run-up to last year’s presidential election.
Alyssa Yung, a self-admitted Swiftie “since elementary school,” posted one of those critiques on her TikTok. “The most disappointing aspect of this is how utterly hypocritical the use of AI is on Taylor’s project,” Yung tells Rolling Stone. “She herself has gone on record against AI and it has repeatedly been used against her — deepfake porn, false election endorsements, etc. Additionally, Taylor Swift has been an advocate for years about owning her art and generative AI uses stolen art to create its images/videos. The fact that her/her team opted to go this route instead of hiring a real 3D/CGI artist when they have seemingly an endless budget (as a billionaire signed to a major record label) is a disappointing sign of the times.“
Along with the TikTok videos, the hashtag SwiftiesAgainstAI has popped up to point out the environmental impact of AI. “Please learn better next time,” read one post. As a recent MIT study assessed, the computer power required of AI tech can “demand a staggering amount of electricity, which leads to increased carbon dioxide emissions and pressures on the electric grid” and “a great deal of water … needed to cool the hardware used for training, deploying, and fine-tuning generative AI models, which can strain municipal water supplies and disrupt local ecosystems.”
But who exactly created and posted these videos (which also look as if they contain a good deal of CGI)? Was it Team Taylor or a third-party company? Did Google have something to do with it? A rep for Swift did not respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment, nor did Google, assuming the company had anything to do with the AI to begin with.
But one aspect of this mystery remains undeniable. Instead of attacking those who pointed out the supposedly AI-created images, many seemed to agree with the sleuths. “It‘s 100% AI,” wrote one. “Another key giveaway is that there are cuts every 6 seconds and the camera is static aside from simple zooming in/out.” Others wrote: “Disappointing she would do this considering she could absolutely pay real motion graphics designers and the battle she personally had for her own intellectual property” and “Lol yeah that’s hella sus. Given how she’s trained her fans to look at every detail I don’t know how they didn’t think people would pick up on this.”
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For her part, Yung says she’s surprised that fellow Swifties are agreeing with her for calling out the alleged AI videos. “From my years of supporting Taylor Swift, I have noticed that people will blindly support anything she does and any critique of her is met with extreme backlash,” she says. “I am noticing this album cycle that more Swifties are departing from that hive mindset and actually criticizing her when they deem it is valid.”
From Rolling Stone US
