(Image via spotify.com)
Staff Writer: Rena Danho
Email: rdanho@umassd.edu
AI, or artificial intelligence, has become very popular and commonplace. Today we see it more and more in increasingly different ways.
For instance, on Tik Tok and Youtube, there are videos of presidents like Joe Biden, Donald Trump, and Barack Obama playing different video games such as Minecraft. These videos are made through voice AI, which recreates the voice of each president to make them say whatever the user wants.
The more you think about it, the scarier it becomes and the harder it is to come to terms with.
Every day, AI seems more and more likely to take over, starting with taking away jobs from some people, such as artists.
Why pay someone to make a piece of artwork, which can be a lengthy process, when you can just pay an AI to make it in minutes?
As scary as AI is, sometimes it can be really interesting.
A certain app has brought out the best in AI.
Spotify recently added a new introduction to their music streaming service: an AI DJ named Xavier, or X for short.
Under the music section on Spotify’s home page, you can try out the Beta version.
“Hey, what’s going on? [Name] It’s really great to be here with you. I’m Xavier, my friends call me X. And from this moment on, I’m going to be your own personal AI DJ on Spotify. Yeah, I’m an AI. But listen, I don’t set timers. I don’t switch on your lights. I’m all about music– your music. I know what you listen to. I see [Artist/Band] there. So I’m going to be here every day playing those artists who got in rotation, going back into your history for songs you used to love. And I’m always on the lookout for new stuff, too, just to push your boundaries a little bit. I’m going to come back every few songs to change up the vibe. But if you’re ever not feeling the music, there’s going to be a DJ button at the bottom of your screen. Tap that and I’ll come back early to switch it up. All right, enough talk. I mentioned [Artist/Band]. Let’s get it going with that and some other artists in that zone.”
As you can see from what X says when the user first opens the program, there’s a lot he has to offer, from different artists, songs you used to listen to, and so much more.
It makes finding new music a lot easier with an AI going through all your data and putting together music just for you, rather than manually searching Spotify for new songs.
“Now I’m gonna play you some punk from the 2010s, starting with something from Panic at the Disco.”
Right after X said this, it played ‘Girls / Girls / Boys’ by Panic! At The Disco, ‘On Some Emo Shit’ by Blink-182, ‘Sailor in a Life Boat’ by EURINGER and Gerard Way, ‘Coffee Talk’ by Broadside,’ and lastly ‘FIlthy’ by WSTR for me.
I used to listen to a lot of ‘Girls / Girls / Boys’ and Panic! At The Disco in general.
X was able to take this data and put together more songs in the same genre to show me similar music that I like but also new music that I haven’t heard.
“Right now: punk picks just for you”
After X said this, ‘Everywhere I Go’ by Hollywood Undead started playing, followed by ‘Death Of An Executioner’ by Pierce the Veil, ‘Just One Yesterday’ by Fall Out Boy, ‘Stupid for You’ by Waterparks, and ‘Our Time Now’ by the Plain White T’s.
As X said, these picks were just for me.
All of these songs are collectively together on one of my playlists, along with more from these artists. Some are songs I’ve listened to recently, and some are songs I haven’t heard in a bit.
“Coming up now I have one of your top artists, here’s Noah Kahan.”
Just as you could guess, X picked 5 Noah Kahan songs to play for me. As promised, he was going to play one of my top artists.
I did decide to check this because on a laptop, you can actually see your top artists of the month on your profile, and Noah Kahan is #4 on my list.
Although the DJ isn’t perfect, and sometimes I’ll get random songs that personally I don’t think I’d ever listen to or artists I no longer have interest in, the new DJ option on Spotify is a great way to find new music and revisit old favorites.
As I said earlier, it is still the beta version of X, and there are probably some bugs and updates that Spotify is working on.
Aside from those minor problems, the new AI is something I think everyone should check out on Spotify. It’s a great way to look back at what you used to listen to, and it’s a great tool for when you don’t know what you want to listen to.
Is AI going to put people out of jobs and possibly take over the world?
Very likely.
However, I’m going to take my chances with this one, and I think you should too.