SZA recently sat down with i-D Magazine, where she discussed everything from new music to the state of affairs in the White House.
However, it’s her comments on the rising use of artificial intelligence in music, specifically Black music, that caught folks’ attention. In her opinion, there is a larger war going on between those who want to preserve music’s humanity and those who would rather take a shortcut. “I feel like I’m at war because of AI,” she says. According to the TDE singer, Black music has been “disproportionately” affected under the guise of embracing technology.
“Why am I hearing AI covers of Olivia Dean, when Olivia Dean just came the f*ck 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.” SZA says her biggest competition isn’t the pop or R&B girlies, but “anti-intellectualism and doing things easy.” She added, “The type of blend of information my human experience provides, AI can’t even be prompted to f*ck with. I want to just let this angst drive me into bizarre directions.”
“A.I. is killing and polluting Black and Brown cities,” the singer wrote in a Instagram Story post last july
This isn’t the first time the singer raised alarm bells surrounding the rising use of A.I.
Last summer, she spoke out about the damage artificial intelligence was doing to Black and brown communities. “Please Google how much energy and pollution it takes to run AI,” she wrote in an Instagram Story post last July. “Please Google the beautiful black cities like Memphis that are SUFFERING because of Twitter’s new AI system.” She added, “PLEASE JUST GOOGLE ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM. ”
“AI doesn’t give a f–k if you live or die, I promise. THERE IS A PRICE FOR CONVENIENCE AND BLACK AND BROWN [people] WILL PAY THE BRUNT OF IT EVERY TIME.” Just a day prior, in another IG Story post, she shared similar sentiments, “AI is killing and polluting Black and Brown cities. None of you care ‘cause [you’re] codependent on a machine. Have a great life.”
