A Canadian who duped journalists in an elaborate AI music hoax says he apologizes to anybody damage by his experiment however that it has been “too fascinating” to show away from.
A person utilizing the pseudonym Andrew Frelon posed because the spokesperson for a band known as The Velvet Sunset — which he later mentioned he had no involvement with — making a media frenzy that propelled the AI-assisted “band” to 1,000,000 month-to-month listeners on Spotify.
He spoke with CBC Information over the cellphone Friday provided that his actual title not be revealed. CBC Information agreed to not use his actual title as a result of he fears harassment based mostly on the hateful messages he is obtained on-line, and worries he would lose work if recognized.
The sticky on-line saga started when the band appeared on music streaming platforms a number of weeks in the past and amassed lots of of hundreds of streams from two full-length albums.
Its mix of laid-back Seventies-inspired rock and trendy indie pop appeared on a number of fashionable Spotify playlists, together with one that includes Vietnam Warfare songs.
However savvy listeners observed one thing was off. The band’s supposed members had no digital footprint, and there was no file of them ever having carried out dwell. The album artwork and profile picture, that includes 4 shaggy-haired rockers, additionally carried hallmarks of generative AI.
However because the controversy gained steam, an account on social media platform X purporting to characterize the band emphatically denied that any of the music was created by synthetic intelligence, calling the accusations “lazy” and “baseless.”
CBC reached out to the X account on Wednesday and tried to rearrange an interview by means of a Gmail account purporting to characterize the band.
Then, a person calling himself Andrew Frelon informed Rolling Stone, in an article that was printed on-line later that day, that he’s behind The Velvet Sunset and the X account, and that he used generative AI platform Suno to create the songs. He known as the venture an “artwork hoax.”
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However simply because the thriller seemed to be solved, a unique X account linked to the official Velvet Sunset Spotify web page posted a assertion saying Frelon has nothing to do with the band.
“Somebody is making an attempt to hijack the identification of The Velvet Sunset,” mentioned the assertion, which additionally appeared on the band’s Spotify and Instagram accounts on Thursday.
That very same day, Frelon, who gave the Rolling Stone interview, posted a prolonged weblog confirming he had nothing to do with the band and that almost the whole lot he informed the journal, together with his title, was a lie.
The precise band’s identification was as soon as once more a thriller. It turned out the hoax was, the truth is, a part of a much bigger hoax.
‘It is too fascinating of a thriller’
Talking with CBC Information on Friday, Frelon maintained that he has “zero” connection to the Velvet Sunset.
Requested about his motivation for sustaining such a sophisticated ruse, Frelon mentioned the best way the entire thing has performed out has change into like “creative jet gas.”
“There’s so many bizarre cultural, technical issues at play right here. It is too fascinating of a thriller for me to show away from,” he mentioned.
The true individual behind Andrew Frelon is an skilled on net platform security and coverage points, with intensive expertise utilizing generative AI. He was born in the USA however lives in Canada.
A person calling himself Andrew Frelon says he used AI to generate this picture of The Velvet Sunset. (Andrew Frelon)
A number of main American publications have interviewed him about his different AI tasks and security and coverage points work.
CBC Information verified his identification by means of display screen photographs and a Sign video chat. Frelon despatched display screen photographs of his correspondence with Rolling Stone to substantiate he was the one who did that interview.
Frelon mentioned he tried final yr to monetize his personal AI music venture with a good friend. Sure that The Velvet Sunset was generated by AI, and stunned by its seemingly in a single day success, he determined to change into the band’s de-facto publicist as a “social engineering” experiment.
To additional sow confusion, Frelon shared posts made by the official Velvet Sunset X account, to deliberately make it appear like it was related to the account he runs. He additionally generated and posted AI “pictures” of the band in varied settings and eventualities, and mentioned he used ChatGPT when initially responding to reporters.
A part of his intention with the Velvet Sunset experiment, he mentioned, was blurring actuality and making an attempt to see how diligently members of the media would work to confirm his identification.
“I am actually exploiting the uncertainty,” he mentioned. “And I feel that is the artwork.”
His experiment additionally highlighted the benefit of making misleading content material and the velocity with which it spreads.
Frelon mentioned he finally hopes to advance the dialog round generative AI, and its dangers and advantages.
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Within the course of, nonetheless, he mentioned he is obtained a flood of hateful messages and acknowledged that the prank has upset some folks.
“I did not imply to do it maliciously, though clearly a few of the methods I used had been underhanded and never very cool,” he mentioned. “I acknowledge that, and I apologize for these folks affected.”
Frelon’s hoax supercharged The Velvet Sunset’s success; the band’s viewers has grown by about 700,000 month-to-month listeners on Spotify since his hoax began, hitting a million on Saturday.
In yet one more twist, the band’s official X account admitted on Saturday to its use of AI after taking part in coy for weeks, saying in a social media assertion it’s a “artificial music venture guided by human inventive path, and composed, voiced, and visualized with the help of synthetic intelligence.”
Frelon used AI to generate this picture of The Velvet Sunset at a gala. (Andrew Frelon)
It’s nonetheless not clear who’s behind The Velvet Sunset, and its X account has not responded to interview requests from CBC Information.
Frelon mentioned he obtained a message from The Velvet Sunset’s X account on Saturday, insisting he rename his account and delete all references to the band being “100% human-generated.”
Frelon’s X web page is now marked as a “parody” account.
AI ‘bands’ infiltrate streaming platforms
AI-generated digital music, and AI songs mimicking present artists, have change into commonplace, however AI “bands” are a more moderen phenomenon.
Laszlo Tamasi, the person behind hard-rock act The Satan Inside, which has hundreds of thousands of Spotify streams, admitted in June he makes use of AI to make the music and generate the band’s imagery, after followers and music writers raised questions.
Different fashionable artists, like “darkish nation” act Aventhis and provocative soul singer Nick Hustles, have equally been revealed to be AI creations with behind-the-scenes enter from people.
Nova Scotia-based singer-songwriter Ian Janes, who had his personal battle with AI music after a seemingly AI-generated venture popped up on Spotify utilizing his title, mentioned in some methods, the music trade has set the stage for an AI takeover by relying so closely on technology-assisted methods like quantizing and pitch-correcting.
He mentioned listeners have change into so accustomed to technology-aided “perfection” in recorded music that after they hear an AI-generated track, it may appear indistinguishable from one thing made by actual folks. Conversely, when a human voice goes out of key, or a track hastens or slows down, folks may understand that as an error.
“The conditioning of our ears to algorithmic perfection in music has set the stage for AI to be poised to simply take that job from us,” Janes mentioned.
The Velvet Sunset initially raised suspicions partly as a result of its title appeared by-product of acts just like the Velvet Underground and Sundown Rubdown, and its track titles and lyrics additionally appeared to lack originality. Its most-streamed track, Mud on the Wind, for instance, remembers the 1977 Kansas hit Mud within the Wind.
However Alexander Olson, a senior analysis affiliate on the College of Toronto’s school of utilized science and engineering who researches AI, mentioned it is changing into more and more difficult for the common individual to establish AI in all mediums.
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“It is made even tougher on this setting, as a result of lots of people are counting on Spotify to decide on songs for them and to make these suggestions,” he mentioned.
Winnipeg-based music critic Darryl Sterdan calls the Velvet Sunset’s music “generic” and “forgettable,” and mentioned AI will not be but on the level the place it may possibly reproduce the soul and “indefinable humanity” behind worthwhile songs.
However he predicts it will not be lengthy earlier than AI generates a real chart-topping world pop hit, finally forcing establishments just like the Grammys and Junos to “formally reward” AI creations in a bid to stay related. “Then, the deluge will really start,” he mentioned.
