SZA feels like she is “at war” because of the rise of AI in music, and she feels the technology is causing particular problems for Black artists.
The Save the Day singer is concerned about the use of artificial intelligence being used to create songs, and is “really offended” by the sound of certain tracks that have been produced using AI.
She told i-D magazine: “I feel like I’m at war because of AI.
“It’s happening disproportionately with Black music.
“Why am I hearing AI covers of Olivia Dean, when Olivia Dean just came the f***out? She can’t even collect the streams.
“I’m also really offended by the type of Black music that’s coming out of AI. Weird, stereotypical struggle music.
“I’m not up against the pop girls. I’m not up against the R and B girls. I’m up against anti-intellectualism and doing things easy. The type of blend of information my human experience provides, AI can’t even be prompted to f*** with. I want to just let this angst drive me into bizarre directions.”
The 36-year-old singer is worried about how “fractured and fragmented” society has become.
She said: “I feel aggressively Black right now.
“It’s so scary to realise that we’re so deeply unprepared and fractured and fragmented as a society. The veil is down and anything is happening. We aren’t empowered by a sense of community and solidarity. We don’t have it.”
Last summer, SZA criticised users of AI technology for being “codependent on a machine” and urged fans to “please Google how much energy and pollution it takes to run AI”.
She added on Instagram: “Please Google the beautiful Black cities like Memphis that are SUFFERING because of Twitter’s new AI system. PLEASE JUST GOOGLE ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM.
“AI doesn’t give a f*** if you live or die I promise. THERE IS A PRICE FOR CONVENIENCE AND BLACK AND BROWN [COMMUNITIES] WILL PAY THE BRUNT OF IT EVERYTIME. We won’t get it til it’s too late. Y’all don’t hear me tho.”
SZA also bemoaned the technology on her song Ghost in the Machine, which features on her 2022 album SOS.
She sang in the track: “Let’s talk about AI, robot got more heart than I/ Robot got future, I don’t/ Robot got sleep but I don’t power down.”