Well, not Selena Gomez, it seems. Two days ago, the “Come & Get It” singer posted a photo dump on Instagram after the Golden Globes and soundtracked it to “Where Your Warmth Begins,” a Sienna Rose “original,” computer-created vocals crooning soulfully through the screen (rather ironic, considering Sienna Rose is inherently soulless, being a series of numbers and all). The post has 1.3 million likes. You would hope that someone with an actual career in music would be slightly more careful about platforming the AI facsimiles endangering the artform, but hey, what do I know?
The proliferation of AI art is becoming increasingly stomach-turning, all the more so because of how willing most listeners are to consume it without question. Sienna Rose is about as obvious an AI artist can get: the generic R&B name and album covers, the vaguely new-age-y song titles, the hollow production and repetitive songcraft, even the ChatGPT-ass artist description (“With a voice that is tender, expressive, and deeply emotional, she creates songs that feel both timeless and intimate—like quiet confessions wrapped in melody”). And yet, over two million people—ranging from randos praising her music online to, apparently, musicians themselves—count themselves fans (with some later expressing shock after realizing they’ve been had). Turns out you don’t even need a soul to make soul music, I guess.
