Crowded House have shot down a false AI-generated report claiming frontman Neil Finn suffers from erectile dysfunction.
In the bizarre clip, TVNZ journalist Simon Dallow reports on the fake news that the Don’t Dream It’s Over hitmaker has recently had a child after struggling with impotence.
An AI version of Finn says in the broadcast: “I never thought I’d be able to become a father again. Honestly, I believe that chapter of my life was closed, not because I didn’t want it, but because I simply couldn’t.
“For years, I lived with a problem most men are too ashamed to talk about. My erections became weaker and weaker until they stopped altogether. No desire, no confidence, no control. I was too embarrassed to even talk to my wife about it.”
Māori doctor Lance O’Sullivan also makes an appearance in AI form to offer her expert advice on the issue.
The New Zealand group re-posted the clip and warned fans “don’t be fooled”.
A statement on their Facebook page read: “We’re not sure where this came from, but please don’t be fooled.
“Neil’s never had trouble with erections.”
Many musicians and celebrities have raised their concerns about AI.
Recently, Nick Cave admitted his view of artificial intelligence as an artistic tool has begun to shift.
The 66-year-old singer-songwriter and frontman of The Bad Seeds has long been a vocal critic of the technologygy. He previously described AI as “unbelievably disturbing” and warned of a “humiliating effect” on the creative industries.
But he confessed his view changed after watching a new AI-powered video made to mark the 40th anniversary of his song Tupelo.
Writing on The Red Hand Files platform, he said: “As I watched Andrew’s surreal little film, I felt my view of AI as an artistic device soften.
“To some extent, my mind was changed.”
The video he was referring to was created by 56-year-old filmmaker Andrew Dominik, and used AI to animate still archival images.
Tupelo is a 1985 single he has performed “at nearly every Bad Seeds concert since it was first written”. The track depicts the mythic birth of Elvis Presley during a storm in Tupelo, Mississippi.
Nick was initially sceptical when he learned AI had been used to create the video.
Filmmaker Andrew has previously collaborated with Nick on the 2016 documentary One More Time With Feeling and the 2022 film This Much I Know to Be True.
Nick added in his online post he found the video “an extraordinarily profound interpretation of the song – a soulful, moving, and entirely original retelling of Tupelo, rich in mythos and a touching tribute to the great Elvis Presley, as well as to the song itself.”
He also said the AI-animated images of Elvis “had an uncanny quality, as if he had been raised from the dead, and the crucifixion-resurrection images at the end were both shocking and deeply affecting.”
In January 2023, Nick publicly condemned ChatGPT, telling fans on his blog that it should “f*** off and leave songwriting alone”.
He added at the time: “I feel sad about it, disappointed that there are smart people out there that actually think the artistic act is so mundane that it can be replicated by a machine.”
Nick also branded submissions of ChatGPT-generated lyrics written in the style of Nick Cave as “bulls***” and “a grotesque mockery of what it is to be human.”