AI or Not? Fans Question Taylor Swift’s Promo Videos

An online scavenger hunt promoting Taylor Swift’s new album The Life of a Showgirl has sparked backlash after fans claimed some of the promotional clips appeared AI-generated, leading to the viral hashtag #SwiftiesAgainstAI.

The campaign, created by Google, featured 12 videos hidden behind orange doors in 12 cities worldwide—each with QR codes revealing clues that led fans to the lyric video for the album’s opening track, “The Fate of Ophelia.”

However, fans soon noticed distorted visuals, unreadable text, and objects defying physics in the clips, prompting accusations that AI tools were used. Many took social media to express frustration, saying the visuals looked “off” and lacked Swift’s usual creative polish.

An X user wrote, “Who would change the sign font between frames? The letters SG, JI, KR, and the morphing statue hand point to AI, not CGI #SwiftiesAgainstAI,” fuelling fan speculation over whether the videos were created using AI or CGI.

Ellie Schnitt, a Singer's fan with over 500,000 followers on X, wrote “You know firsthand the harm AI images can cause. You know better, so do better,”. Schnitt tells WIRED that if Swift did use, or sign off on using, generative AI for the videos, that move would seem at odds with the songwriter’s long, public campaign for artistic ownership and fair royalties.

Swift has not promoted the campaign herself, and it remains unclear whether she or her team approved the videos. Following the criticism, many of the Life of a Showgirl promo clips had been removed from YouTube and X. Neither Swift nor Google has commented on the controversy.

Taylor Swift has previously condemned the use of AI-generated deepfakes of herself, during US Election 2024, “Recently I was made aware that AI of ‘me’ falsely endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential run was posted to his site.”