Brian May has said that we do not need artificial intelligence (AI) and used a recreation of one of Queen’s iconic album covers to prove it.
The 79-year-old took to Instagram to share the results, in a post that initially spooked followers who believed he might be the latest celebrity convert to AI.
But the guitarist instead stated that he had asked Meta’s AI to recreate the cover of his band’s 1980 album The Game, with a creepy, less-than-stellar result.
In the picture, there were five members instead of the standard four of Freddie Mercury, May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon. This version also showed Spike Edney in the line-up, despite the fact he only started performing with Queen in 1984.
May wrote in the Instagram caption: ‘I just had to share this with you guys. I asked Meta AI to show me what the cover of The Game album looked like. This is what it gave me, good job, eh?
‘So this is the kind of intelligence that will soon be ruling the world? Well, great, maybe this is the time to realise we actually don’t need AI.’
He continued: ‘I’m now very serious, I believe the price we are about to pay for this “inevitable” development is way too high.
‘We must not allow these hideous data centres to be built in the UK. They will destroy our beautiful country, like they are already destroying beautiful America.’
In the post, he also appeared to appeal to Prime Minister Andy Burnham to intervene, adding: ‘Dear Andy, you must stop it now, before it’s too late.’
In the comment section underneath, May received unanimous praise from his followers, who thanked him for highlighting the issue with AI.
Comment Now Monique Brognon said of the technology required to power AI in the comments section: ‘It is not enough to refuse the data centres, it is essential NOW to explain to people what they’re really doing by playing with AI all day long.
‘It’s time for humanity to think more about the consequences of their actions.’
Jake Thompson thanked May for taking a stand on a ‘problem that many choose to ignore when generating their own AI posts’.
May’s post comes amid a turbulent time for the artistic relationship with AI, with many staunchly opposed and others who have come out in defence of the technology.
In the latter camp is Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, who said that the AI-created Oasis album AISIS was ‘better than all the other snizzle out there’.
But in 2024, Billie Eilish, Katy Perry and the estate of Frank Sinatra were among 200 artists calling for the ‘predatory’ use of AI in the music industry to be stopped.
In an open letter, they warned AI ‘will set in motion a race to the bottom’ if left unchecked, calling on tech firms to pledge not to develop AI music-generation tools ‘that undermine or replace the human artistry of songwriters and artists, or deny us fair compensation for our work’.
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