Recommendations of the Editorial team
It is the intimate, private moments that fans of classic rock stars normally never see. Steven Tyler, with hammer and nails in his hand, builds a dog house for rescued animals. Mick Jagger, Elton John and Rod Stewart sing in harmony with Ozzy Osbourne’s funeral service. Jagger and Tyler comfort a Phil Collins in the hospital. Bruce Springsteen sings “if i should fall Behind” for nursing staff while visiting his wife Patti in a facility.
AI pictures in the music scene increase
Personally and heart -warming, yes. But, told the least, Completely invented.
From fake bands to artificially generated songs – AI increasingly penetrates the music world. Last month, a mysterious band called Velvet Sundown appeared on streaming services, won hundreds of thousands of listeners. And finally admitted that the alleged band, in the words of their creators, “is a synthetic music project under human creative management, composed, sung and visualized with the support of artificial intelligence”.
Against this background, AI generated pictures of rock stars were only a matter of time. But the photos of music legends that appear on Facebook and elsewhere are breathtaking. Has Collins saved a missing child at the airport and scolded the police because she doesn’t do her job? Has Springsteen bought a diner to give homeless food for free? Have Adele and Adam Lambert sang together at the funeral service for Malcolm-Jamal Warner? Have Tyler and Taylor Swift Königin Camilla serenaded for their birthday? Has Bob Dylan Collins visited in the hospital and gave Dick van Dyke an early 100-year birthday cake?
Nostalgia and the problem of the “too beautiful” fake pictures
Each of these completely fake pictures also has an accompanying, exaggerated text: When Paul McCartney and Collins supposedly visited Willie Nelson in a hospital in Austin, it said: “The room no longer felt like a hospital – it felt like the heart of music that still beats.”
“This kind of posts definitely takes up nostalgia, and people want to believe in such things,” says Justin Grome, founder of Cloneefluence, a social media marketing and consulting agency that specializes in music. “Even if they are not real, they are heartwarming. It is not a case of fake news in the political sense. And it is not intended to make people angry. It should comfort it – and that makes it even more difficult to fight, because who questions something that makes him happy?”
Fans reactions: from amusement to anger
The pictures are so obviously simulated that in the music area they are the equivalent to the famous “Dogs Playing Poker” poster. And to judge the comments, many people recognize this: “More Ai fantasy waste.” “Enough of this Ki Bullshit.” “How gullible are you?” Since Collins was recently in the hospital because of a knee surgery, his fans were actually shocked and annoyed by an AI picture that McCartney showed when visiting far worse. On a Genesis/Collins Forum it was said: “Turn together, that’s all fake!” And “AI is crap!”
Most of these pictures show older rock stars, which increases the confusion. Since many of them are already in the seventies or eighties, it is easy to believe that they get sick (Eric Clapton, who is planning a song in a hospital hall!) Or mear difficult times together (are these really dylan and jumping steels that are hug and in the arms?).
When AI images lead to emotional misjudgments
A Aerosmiths Tyler’s Aerosmith who visits Nelson in the hospital led to comments such as: “Prayers for Willie, and nice that Steven visits him.” (The picture of the dog house also deceived many fans.) An alleged picture of Jimmy Page, who pushes his former bandmate Robert in a wheelchair, called out also skeptical (“Last week it was Phil Collins”) and benevolent comments (“Get better”, “you can do that, Robert”).
Speakers of some of the great artists – Springsteen, Dylan, Collins and the late Osbourne – did not respond to inquiries from Rolling Stone or rejected the request. Rock & Roll Universe, one of the most famous pages that post these pictures, did not respond to an email from RS.
Silence the artist – risk or clever strategy?
At the moment, this strategy of the artists could work because the fantasy images seem harmless, but Grome warns of possible problems: “The most difficult thing is if artists or their teams do not take a position. If they do not say anything, this will confirm the picture as perhaps.
In the meantime, you can enjoy the AI photos on which Metallicas Lars Ulrich helps his bandmate James Hetfield to blow out the birthday candles-but do not be surprised if it turns out that they have been done.