Taylor Swift's AI Controversy: Fans Question Promotional Videos for 'The Life of a Showgirl'

Taylor Swift fans accuse singer of using AI in her Google scavenger hunt videos | TechCrunch

For the release of her twelfth album, "The Life of a Showgirl," Taylor Swift sent fans on an online scavenger hunt this weekend, which began by searching for "Taylor Swift" on Google. But as fans unveiled secret videos as part of the campaign, some fretted that the clips looked like they were AI-generated and were not pleased. A Google search for the singer's name yields a cryptic message: "12 cities, 12 doors, 1 video to unlock." Fans had to figure out the location of the doors, then physically find them and scan a QR code, which surfaced twelve unique videos that contained the clues needed to solve the puzzle. When fans Googled the correct phrase, another orange door appeared, which fans had to collectively "knock" on by clicking 12 million times. Finally, the door "opened," revealing a lyric video for "The Fate of Ophelia," which has its own orange door progress bar on YouTube. YouTube had scored the video exclusive for the track, as well as the lyric videos from the remaining songs on the new album. Google initially announced the scavenger hunt in a video on Instagram. The video begins with an aerial view of Earth, then quickly zooms in on a hilly, bejeweled landscape, until we see an orange door, overlayed with a Google search bar. While Swifties love a puzzle, some were rubbed the wrong way by the 12 clue-containing videos, which looked to be AI-generated. Instead of searching for clues to unveil Swift's new lyric video, as Swift intended, some fans began to scour the video clips like detectives, looking for signs that the scenes were synthetic. However, while there are clips that look computer-generated, it's unclear if they were made using AI, and if so, to what extent. It would make sense if these videos were generated using Google's AI products. As OpenAI shows off its new Sora 2 video generator, this Taylor Swift collaboration would be a serendipitous opportunity for Google to show millions of Swifties what its Veo 3 model can do. Google did not respond to TechCrunch's request for comment on how these videos were generated or if Swift and Google worked together on this activation by using Google's own AI technology. But Swift's team and Google have teamed up for similar promotional activities in the past, we should note. The use of AI in creative works is a sensitive subject. Some artists think these tools can help them, while others have protested the manner in which large language models are trained on their work without consent, effectively using artists' own work to create the technology that could threaten their livelihoods. Even Swift herself spoke out about the dangers of AI after President Donald Trump shared an AI-generated image of her showing support for his campaign last year; the incident spurred her to post an endorsement for former Vice President Kamala Harris, who ran against Trump in 2024. "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," she wrote on Instagram at the time. The controversy around Swift's possible use of AI is amplified given her own stature in the music industry. While AI may appeal to some artists as a way to cut costs, the billionaire musician has every possible resource at her disposal to bring the fantastical scenes from her promotional videos to life.

Fans Call on Taylor Swift to 'Do Better' After Accusations of Using AI for Promo Videos

A bartender's hand passing through a napkin. A disappearing coat hanger. A carousel horse with two heads. These were just some of the alleged clues that fans spotted in promo videos for Taylor Swift's new album, The Life of a Showgirl, this weekend. But they weren't Easter eggs about Swift's music. They were, to their eyes, telltale indicators that the videos were purportedly made with generative AI. "The first sign that it was AI was that it didn't look great," claims Marcela Lobo, a graphic designer in Brazil who has been a Swift fan since she was 12. "It was wonky, the shadows didn't match, the windows and the painted piano, it looked like shit, basically." Fans, haters, and AI researchers all spotted similar things in the videos, which Swift promoted alongside Google as part of a scavenger hunt that would eventually unlock the lyric video for "The Fate of Ophelia," the album's lead single. Their commentary has flooded social media in the days since the hunt began, prompting some to come to Swift's defense and even more to campaign generally about the use of AI. Swift has yet to comment on the backlash, leaving fans to speculate about how the videos were made and whether they used CGI or AI. According to Ben Colman, CEO and cofounder of AI detection company Reality Defender, it seems "highly likely" some of the promo clips were AI-generated. He cited garbled and nonsensical text in some clips as one giveaway. Representatives for Swift and Google did not respond to requests for comment on this story. AI-generated media has become ubiquitous in entertainment and advertising, even as artists and fans scoff at its use. Just last month Pew Research Center published the results of a survey that found nearly half of respondents would like a painting less if they learned it was made by AI; younger adults were even more likely to respond negatively to AI-generated media. By Monday, many of the Life of a Showgirl promo videos had seemingly disappeared from YouTube, and some of the X posts containing them were deleted (searches for "Taylor Swift AI" are also restricted on X as of this writing, a move that was implemented previously to stop the spread of nonconsensual sexually-explicit deepfakes of Swift).

Swifties scramble after Taylor Swift teaser videos fuel AI debate

Famous American singer Taylor Swift has found herself embroiled in yet another controversy post the release of her twelfth album, The Life of a Showgirl. Fans across the globe are now accusing her of using AI in her promotional videos, which were released in the form of a scavenger hunt on Google this weekend. The 35-year-old is a long-standing advocate of art ownership, having reclaimed her recordings earlier this year. She has also stood up against AI usage during the 2023 strikes, being a member of SAG-AFTRA.

Did Taylor Swift use AI art? 'Life of a Showgirl' orange door videos seem AI-generated

Fans worldwide are expressing disappointment after Taylor Swift allegedly used AI-generated videos to help promote her new album, The Life of a Showgirl. To be clear, it has neither been confirmed that the videos in question are AI -- though it certainly seems that way -- nor is it clear that Swift was directly involved in the creation of the videos. The allegedly AI-generated videos surfaced via 12 "orange doors" with QR codes placed in major global cities. Those QR codes led to videos related to Showgirl. It's the classic Easter egg tactic Swift has made famous. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. But once those videos made their way online, people began to notice they seemed to be made with AI. Here's a good breakdown on TikTok about parts of videos that appear to be AI. Folks online, including seemingly some Swifties, were disappointed that Swift would use AI in a promotional campaign for Showgirl. Why would an impossibly wealthy artist choose to use AI-generated works rather than pay artists for the actual work that AI poorly replicates? Swift also famously fought to own her back catalog of music, and using AI -- a technology that scrapes other folks' work to create its own content -- would seem to run counter to that ethos. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. It's also worth noting that Swift has worked against AI-generated content when it directly affects her. She spoke out in support of Kamala Harris after then-presidential candidate Donald Trump used AI-generated art to suggest Swifties supported him in 2024. Swifties also mobilized to protect Swift after AI-generated deepfakes of the singer surfaced online. Perhaps the videos rely on (poorly done) visual effects created by humans. But if the videos are actually AI, there are certainly a lot of disappointed people online.

Billionaire Taylor Swift Uses Sloppy AI in Video for New Album

Hot off the heels of her new album, pop superstar Taylor Swift has been accused of using AI slop to promote the record. As part of a treasure hunt-style promo, Swift challenged her fans to find 12 "orange doors" spread across 12 cities and scan accompanying QR codes. These codes unlock short videos, one of which has been making its rounds on social media -- for all the wrong reasons, unfortunately. One clip, which features an Art Nouveau-style bar -- presumably meant to invoke the album's title, "Life of a Showgirl" -- bears the now-infamous hallmarks of generative AI use. As eagle-eyed internet sleuths spotted, a framed picture on the wall features a garbled depiction of a house, and a book is mysteriously missing letters. At one point, the bartender's middle finger mysteriously blends with the orange napkin he's placing on the bar counter. Another video, linked via a QR code in Barcelona, Spain and showing what seems to be a gym located in a high-rise building, also shows signs of having been generated with AI, such as dumbbells with weights and handles that don't align correctly. Other clips included in the series of 12 videos also appear to have been generated by AI. The official copies of the videos, as featured on YouTube Shorts, have since been taken down, but it's unclear why. Futurism has reached out to Swift's publicist for clarification. The use of AI is striking given the astronomical resources at Swift's disposal. The multibillionaire has built an enormous media empire, with her Eras Tour breaking records for becoming the highest-grossing concert tour of all time. As such, netizens were outraged. "She's far too rich to be this f***ing cheap," one Reddit user seethed. Others pointed out a glaring double standard, with Swift advocating for fair pay, once again reigniting a fiery debate over generative AI replacing human labor and creativity. Swift was also at the center of a major deepfake controversy last year, with users on X-formerly-Twitter sharing explicit AI-generated images of her in droves. Later, AI deepfakes featuring her likeness to drum up support for then-presidential candidate Trump surfaced. "It really conjured up my fears around AI and the dangers of spreading misinformation," she wrote in an Instagram post at the time. "The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth," she added. Most recently, OpenAI's latest release of its text-to-video AI generator, dubbed Sora 2, has brought the discussion to the forefront. The TikTok-style app exclusively features a virtually infinite stream of lazily generated and problematic AI slop. "For someone who has made a big deal about how artists aren't paid appropriately for like, most of her career, this is tone deaf AF," another user wrote. "I love her, but Taylor, girl, read the room," they added.

Taylor Swift fans want her to clarify whether AI was used to make recent promo videos

Taylor Swift performs in Lisbon, Portugal, in 2024. Pedro Gomes / Getty Images for TAS Rights Management Taylor Swift's fans are used to scouring her videos and social media posts for hidden messages about her albums. But after the release of "The Life of a Showgirl," some Swifties have said their hunt for clues led them down a rabbit hole of speculation around whether artificial intelligence was used in a series of promotional videos for the album. The 12 videos were part of a promotional scavenger hunt released by Google, which sent fans on a search for 12 orange doors hidden across 12 cities (for her 12th album) around the world. On each of the doors was a QR code revealing video clues to the puzzle, which pieced together a phrase that fans needed to search through Google. The hunt ultimately led to the lyric video for the album's opening track, "The Fate of Ophelia." While deciphering the video clues, some fans online said they noticed wonky text, muddled details and objects that disappear, or shape-shift against the laws of physics. Using the hashtag #SwiftiesAgainstAI on X, they began accusing the videos of utilizing generative AI. Swift has not personally promoted the orange door campaign, and it's unclear how involved she was in the production of the clips, which were also briefly posted to her YouTube account as Shorts. On Swift's YouTube channel, the shorts now appear to be unavailable. Swift's recently dropped music video for "The Fate of Ophelia," and 12 lyric videos for the "Showgirl" album, are all still up on her channel. None use AI. A representative for Swift did not provide comment for the story. Google did not respond to a request for comment. Swift, a victim of AI deepfakes, has long expressed her support for artists' rights to own their work, which some of her fans online said is what made them so disappointed when they saw the promotional videos, as AI systems are often trained on datasets containing copyrighted work. Some fans pointed out that Swift appeared to use hand-painted props on the set of the music video for "The Fate of Ophelia," noting that the music icon has long been very thoughtful about the presentation of her work. "When so much effort has been put into the rest of the album rollout ... I think it is very, very lazy and disappointing to use generative AI to create videos a human being very much could have done," Rachel Lord, a self-described fan of Swift, said in a TikTok video. "I think it's very important that we as fans talk about how much we disagree with this, because if we don't talk about it, they're just going to continue with it," she said, emphasizing that she's not "hating on Taylor." The controversy arose amid some mixed reviews for Swift's latest album, which topped Spotify charts and sold 2.7 million copies in its first day of release. While many have praised the upbeat bops on "The Life of a Showgirl," others have said the tracks lack the kind of lyricism they have come to expect of Swift. Swift's diehard fan base has traditionally come to her defense amid any backlash. The AI speculation and the subsequent criticism, however, appeared to come just as much from her fans as her detractors. In a Reddit post about the orange door promo clips in the popular r/TaylorSwift community, a moderator wrote: "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." Several are calling on Swift -- who has not commented on the AI speculation -- to make a statement about the matter. "Dear @taylornation13, We expected a decent album promo but we noticed that the promotion on cities were made by A.I," wrote one X user who describes themself as a "taywarrior" and Swiftie in their bio. The post had been viewed more than 1.3 million times as of Tuesday afternoon. "A.I has a large impact on the environment and wildlife because of its LARGE water consumption and more," the user added. "Please learn better next time. #SwiftiesAgainstAI." The use of AI in media production has been a polarizing subject in the entertainment industry. As generative AI tools become increasingly integrated into film, TV and music production, artists have railed against the technology due to concerns over labor displacement as well as AI companies' scraping of human-made work without consent or compensation. Outside of vocal pushback from artists and studios, AI image, video and music generators have been hit with numerous copyright infringement lawsuits from authors, artists, news outlets, mass media companies and music labels. Some of Swift's defenders have argued that the seemingly AI-generated quirks in the videos might be explained with computer-generated imagery. Others have insisted that CGI would not cause objects to morph, blur or disappear when the camera moves. Swift has not condemned the use of AI usage as a whole, but she has previously condemned its misuse. In a 2024 Instagram post endorsing Kamala Harris for president, Swift addressed President Donald Trump's attempt to tout an AI image of her. "Recently I was made aware that AI of 'me' falsely endorsing Donald Trump's presidential run was posted to his site," Swift wrote. "It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation."

Taylor Swift accused of double standard for allegedly using AI to prom

The artist has previously spoken against AI being used to spread misinformation. Pop star Taylor Swift has been accused of using artificial intelligence (AI) to promote her new album "The Life of a Showgirl". The artist made a treasure hunt-style promotion that challenged fans to find 12 orange doors in 12 cities around the world. Players of the game could then scan the QR codes found there. The codes unlocked short videos, and some of them show the hallmarks of AI. One video pictures an Art Nouveau-style bar with a framed picture on the wall that shows a blurred depiction of a house. A book is also missing letters, and the bartender's middle finger blends with an orange napkin that he puts on the bar. Another QR code in Barcelona led fans to a video of a gym in a high-rise building with weights and handles that don't quite line up. AI being used in video is not new, as OpenAI brought out its Sora video-generator tool last year. Last week, the company said it was also launching a social media platform for users to share their AI-generated videos. Even so, online users and Swift fans were dismayed at the singer, who has openly spoken about the dangers of AI deepfakes and AI replacing human labour and creativity. "For someone who has made a big deal about how artists aren't paid appropriately for like, most of her career, this is tone deaf AF," one user wrote on Reddit. "Nooooo, not Taylor too," another user wrote on Reddit. "She's too rich for this". Last year, users of the social media platform X shared AI-generated images of the singer purporting to show support for US President Donald Trump during his election campaign. "It really conjured up my fears around AI and the dangers of spreading misinformation," she wrote in an Instagram post at the time. Swift has not confirmed or denied whether the videos used in the album promotion were actually created by AI. The outcry comes as AI company Anthropic on Monday lost a bid to dismiss parts of a copyright lawsuit brought by music publishers, led by Universal Music Group, over Anthropic's alleged misuse of their song lyrics in its AI training. There are many other ongoing copyright lawsuits between artists and their representatives and tech companies, including OpenAI, Meta, and Microsoft, over the unauthorised use of copyrighted works to train AI models - with mixed results in the cases that have been heard or settled so far.

What's Going on With the Alleged Taylor Swift AI Videos?

Inside the Secret Live Recording of Bruce Springsteen's 'Nebraska' Remake 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." 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."

Taylor Swift makes first appearance after 'The Life of a Showgirl' album release wearing expensive ultra-mini skirt and black bag, prices will shock you; check here

Taylor Swift's new album 'The Life of a Showgirl' is out. She was seen in New York City after its release. However, the pop star is now facing criticism. Accusations suggest she used artificial intelligence for her album's marketing campaign. Fans found clues in promotional videos that point to AI involvement. Taylor Swift made her first appearance following the release of her 12th album, 'The Life of a Showgirl.' The 35-year-old pop singer was seen heading to grab dinner in N.Y.C. at The Eighty Six. According to PEOPLE, the 'I Can Do It With a Broken Heart' singer was photographed wearing a plaid skirt, a black turtleneck, and a black bag. The singer, who is facing criticism over claims of using artificial intelligence (AI) to market her latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, opted for Miu Miu's $2,350 pleated tartan miniskirt and carried Dior's $3,450 Montaigne Avenue Top Handle Bag with gold hardware. She teamed her look with Cartier's Love bracelet, dainty gold rings, a gold chain necklace with a drop pendant, and her signature red lip. The Life of a Showgirl was released on October 3, 2025, along with The Official Release Party of a Showgirl, which was in theaters through October 5, 2025. The latest release is Swift's first album since she reacquired the masters of her first six albums in May 2025. The album is her 12th studio release and features 12 songs. The title track is in collaboration with fellow blonde pop star Sabrina Carpenter, 26. The "Manchild" singer, who has been a longtime fan of Swift, opened for Swift on the Eras Tour. The tracklist also includes "The Fate of Ophelia," "Elizabeth Taylor," "Opalite," "Father Figure," "Eldest Daughter," "Ruin the Friendship," "Actually Romantic," "Wi$h Li$t," "Wood," "CANCELLED!" and "Honey." The Grammy winner announced The Life of a Showgirl on the New Heights podcast, hosted by fiancé Travis Kelce and his brother Jason Kelce. On the podcast, Swift said that she worked with producers Max Martin and Shellback for the album. Martin produced Swift's 1989 hit song "Blank Space," according to PEOPLE. The Life of a Showgirl is now available to stream. Following the release of her album 'The Life of a Showgirl,' the 'Cruel Summer' singer has been facing criticism on social media with claims of using artificial intelligence (AI) to market her latest album, The Life of a Showgirl. Swift launched a treasure hunt as part of the promotional campaign that invites fans to locate 12 orange doors placed in various cities worldwide, according to reports. Each door features a QR code that participants can scan, which opens short video clips, some of which show signs of AI involvement. One such clip features a bar styled in Art Nouveau, with a blurry image of a house in a picture frame on the wall. In the same scene, a book is shown with missing letters, and the bartender's middle finger appears to blend into an orange napkin he places on the counter -- glitches characteristic of AI work.

Taylor Swift's Showgirl era starts rough -- 1 million fans unfollow her on Instagram over AI use in album promotion

Taylor Swift's 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, has fueled widespread controversy after its release. What primarily started as criticism of the album's creative direction has currently resulted in full-blown outrage on social media following fans finding out that the pop star allegedly used Artificial Intelligence to create her "orange door" puzzle and changed reality game for promotion. The disclosure made several fans furious, stating it a significant contradiction provided by Swift's long-standing advocacy for creative integrity and well-documented battle to reclaim ownership of her intellectual property. Fan pages on X mentioned that the singer-songwriter lost around a million Instagram followers within a few days of introducing her latest album. Up until September, Swift's Instagram follower count was almost at 282 million;but now, it has dropped to 281 million, making a major decline of over 1,000,000 followers in a very short duration of time. Fans have voiced strong disappointment over Swift's use of AI-generated factors in her global "orange door" hunt, which directed participants to QR codes that, in turn, resulted in AI-created videos focused around the theme of The Life of a Showgirl. Much of the annoyance came from the sharp contrast between these choices and her reputation as a symbol of creative integrity. Swift, who popularly fought to regain ownership of her masters and found herself as a voice for artists' rights, is currently being accused of compromising the very values she once upheld. Several people argue that, despite her billionaire status and wide creative resources, depending on AI shows a "cheap shortcut" that reduces human creativity and reality. The backlash has also been ignited by what several fans are stating a lacklustre project altogether. Critics mention that the lyrics on The Life of a Showgirl feel subpar, mainly when comparing to the depth and narrative of her earlier works like Folklore, Evermore, and The Tortured Poets Department. Adding to the issue is her alleged diss track, Actually Romantic, focused at Charli XCX, which fans say arrives off as one-sided and unnecessarily severe. Several believe that, as the popular artist, Swift could have portrayed more grace instead of elevating a rivalry. Meanwhile, Charli has already teased latest music shortly following the release of Actually Romantic, making fans speculate that a "pop girls' war" may be on the way. Q1: Who is Taylor Swift? Taylor Swift is a globally renowned singer-songwriter popular for her country, pop, and indie music. Q2: What is The Life of a Showgirl? The Life of a Showgirl is Taylor Swift's 12th studio album.

Taylor Swift's alleged AI use is a rare creative misstep

I'm the absolute last person who wants to join the Taylor Swift pile on that's flooding the internet right now (the new album is joyful, FYI), but it wouldn't be fair of me to withhold comment on the AI allegations being levelled right now. In the wake of Taylor's new album, The Life of a Showgirl, a scavenger hunt was launched across the globe, with fans searching for orange doors in 12 major cities - and each one has an accompanying video unlocked via QR code. It is a an incredible feat of marketing and demonstrates just how enormous her brand is - but there was a big problem. The videos shared on the internet have more than a whiff of generative AI (just like with those Sabrina Carpenter images). And for such a powerhouse brand promoting a major release, this is unacceptable. Surely Taylor could have afforded to hire real designers to put together these assets? This album launch has had one of the biggest brand strategies ever, for any new release across any industry. From multiple album variants and a huge social campaign to an actual movie release party we think could be the future of cinema, Taylor has hit every mark in energising Swifties worldwide. While (as ever) there has been a joyfulness to the connectedness felt in the fan community, some of the plays have clearly been financially driven, and that makes AI assets feel exceptionally icky when coming from such a wealthy brand. It's also surprising because the The Life of a Showgirl movie contains sections that show the making of a music video (The Life of Ophelia) and the standout takeaway is you can see how on top of the creative process Taylor is personally. The video involves lavish handmade sets and costumes with an incredible attention to detail - and the control and perfectionism shown by Taylor and her team is apparent throughout the production. So to allow such low quality AI to come through in these assets is not in line with the quality put out in the rest of the album's ecosystem. Sure, the gen AI videos are a part of the campaign that feels like an add-on, and not the main component. But they come together to create an overall creative narrative, they are designed to be viral content and ultimately to push album sales, so I would expect a brand as big as this to have a higher bar and enthusiastically pay real designers to make their assets. And as well as the implications for designers' salaries, it wasn't a great brand decision for the optics. The videos have been taken down from YouTube now, but not before the internet noticed - and now news is flooded with these allegations. Someone should have seen this coming and thought a bit harder about it.