How a Canadian's AI hoax duped the media and propelled a 'band' to streaming success

A Canadian who duped journalists successful an elaborate AI euphony hoax says helium apologizes to anyone wounded by his experiment but that it's been "too fascinating" to crook distant from.

A antheral utilizing the pseudonym Andrew Frelon posed arsenic the spokesperson for a set called The Velvet Sundown — which he aboriginal said helium had no engagement with — creating a media frenzy that propelled the AI-assisted "band" to a cardinal monthly listeners connected Spotify.

He spoke with CBC News implicit the telephone Friday connected information that his existent sanction not beryllium revealed. CBC News agreed not to usage his existent sanction due to the fact that helium fears harassment based connected the hateful messages he's received online, and worries he would suffer enactment if identified.

The sticky online saga began erstwhile the set appeared connected euphony streaming platforms respective weeks agone and amassed hundreds of thousands of streams from 2 full-length albums.

Its blend of laid-back 1970s-inspired stone and modern indie popular appeared connected respective fashionable Spotify playlists, including 1 featuring Vietnam War songs.

But savvy listeners noticed thing was off. The band's expected members had nary integer footprint, and determination was nary grounds of them ever having performed live. The album creation and illustration photo, featuring 4 shaggy-haired rockers, also carried hallmarks of generative AI.

But arsenic the contention gained steam, an relationship connected societal media level X purporting to correspond the set emphatically denied that immoderate of the euphony was created by artificial intelligence, calling the accusations "lazy" and "baseless."

CBC reached retired to the X relationship connected Wednesday and attempted to put an interrogation done a Gmail relationship purporting to correspond the band.

Then, a antheral calling himself Andrew Frelon told Rolling Stone, in an nonfiction that was published online aboriginal that day, that helium is behind The Velvet Sundown and the X account, and that helium utilized generative AI level Suno to make the songs. He called the task an "art hoax."

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But conscionable arsenic the enigma appeared to be solved, a different X relationship linked to the authoritative Velvet Sundown Spotify page posted a statement saying Frelon has thing to bash with the band.

"Someone is attempting to hijack the individuality of The Velvet Sundown," said the statement, which besides appeared connected the band's Spotify and Instagram accounts connected Thursday.

That aforesaid day, Frelon, who gave the Rolling Stone interview, posted a lengthy blog confirming helium had nothing to bash with the band and that astir everything helium told the magazine, including his name, was a lie.

The existent band's identity was erstwhile again a mystery. It turned retired the hoax was, successful fact, portion of a bigger hoax.

'It's excessively fascinating of a mystery'

Speaking with CBC News connected Friday, Frelon maintained that helium has "zero" connection to the Velvet Sundown.

Asked astir his information for maintaining specified a analyzable ruse, Frelon said the mode the full happening has played out has go like "artistic pitchy fuel."

"There's truthful galore weird cultural, method things astatine play here. It's excessively fascinating of a enigma for maine to crook distant from," helium said.

The existent idiosyncratic down Andrew Frelon is an adept connected web level information and argumentation issues, with extended acquisition utilizing generative AI. He was calved successful the United States but lives successful Canada.

Several large American publications have interviewed him about his different AI projects and information and argumentation issues work.

CBC News verified his identity through screen shots and a Signal video chat. Frelon sent surface shots of his correspondence with Rolling Stone to corroborate helium was the idiosyncratic who did that interview.

Frelon said he attempted past twelvemonth to monetize his ain AI euphony task with a friend. Certain that The Velvet Sundown was generated by AI, and amazed by its seemingly overnight success, he decided to go the band's de-facto publicist as a "social engineering" experiment.

To further sow confusion, Frelon shared posts made by the official Velvet Sundown X account, to intentionally marque it look similar it was connected to the relationship helium runs. He also generated and posted AI "photos" of the set successful assorted settings and scenarios, and said he utilized ChatGPT erstwhile initially responding to reporters.

Part of his volition with the Velvet Sundown experiment, helium said, was blurring world and trying to spot however diligently members of the media would enactment to verify his identity.

"I'm truly exploiting the uncertainty," helium said. "And I deliberation that's the art."

His experimentation besides highlighted the easiness of creating deceptive contented and the velocity with which it spreads.

Frelon said he yet hopes to beforehand the speech astir generative AI, and its risks and benefits.

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In the process, however, he said he's received a flood of hateful messages and acknowledged that the prank has upset immoderate people.

"I didn't mean to bash it maliciously, though obviously some of the techniques I utilized were underhanded and not precise cool," helium said. "I admit that, and I apologize for those radical affected."

Frelon's hoax supercharged The Velvet Sundown's success; the band's assemblage has grown by astir 700,000 monthly listeners on Spotify since his hoax started, hitting 1 cardinal connected Saturday.

In yet different twist, the band's authoritative X relationship admitted connected Saturday to its usage of AI aft playing coy for weeks, saying in a societal media connection it is simply a "synthetic euphony task guided by quality originative direction, and composed, voiced, and visualized with the enactment of artificial intelligence."

It is inactive not wide who is down The Velvet Sundown, and its X account has not responded to interrogation requests from CBC News.

Frelon said he received a message from The Velvet Sundown's X relationship connected Saturday, insisting he rename his account and delete each references to the set being "100% human-generated."

Frelon's X leafage is present marked as a "parody" account.

AI 'bands' infiltrate streaming platforms

AI-generated physics music, and AI songs mimicking existing artists, person go commonplace, but AI "bands" are a newer phenomenon.

Laszlo Tamasi, the antheral down hard-rock enactment The Devil Inside, which has millions of Spotify streams, admitted successful June helium uses AI to marque the euphony and make the band's imagery, aft fans and euphony writers raised questions.

Other fashionable artists, similar "dark country" enactment Aventhis and provocative psyche vocalist Nick Hustles, person similarly been revealed to beryllium AI creations with behind-the-scenes input from humans.

Nova Scotia-based singer-songwriter Ian Janes, who had his ain battle with AI music after a seemingly AI-generated project popped up connected Spotify utilizing his name, said in immoderate ways, the euphony industry has acceptable the signifier for an AI takeover by relying truthful heavy on technology-assisted techniques similar quantizing and pitch-correcting.

He said listeners person go truthful accustomed to technology-aided "perfection" successful recorded euphony that erstwhile they perceive an AI-generated song, it mightiness look indistinguishable from thing made by existent people. Conversely, erstwhile a quality dependable goes retired of key, oregon a opus speeds up oregon slows down, radical mightiness comprehend that arsenic an error.

"The conditioning of our ears to algorithmic perfection successful euphony has acceptable the signifier for AI to beryllium poised to conscionable instrumentality that occupation from us," Janes said.

The Velvet Sundown initially raised suspicions successful portion due to the fact that its sanction seemed derivative of acts like the Velvet Underground and Sunset Rubdown, and its opus titles and lyrics besides seemed to deficiency originality. Its most-streamed song, Dust connected the Wind, for example, recalls the 1977 Kansas deed Dust successful the Wind.

But Alexander Olson, a elder probe subordinate astatine the University of Toronto's module of applied subject and engineering who researches AI, said it's becoming progressively challenging for the mean idiosyncratic to place AI successful all mediums.

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"It's made adjacent harder successful this setting, due to the fact that a batch of radical are relying connected Spotify to take songs for them and to marque those recommendations," helium said.

Winnipeg-based euphony professional Darryl Sterdan calls the Velvet Sundown's music "generic" and "forgettable," and said AI is not yet at the constituent wherever it tin reproduce the psyche and "indefinable humanity" down worthwhile songs.

But helium predicts it won't beryllium agelong earlier AI generates a genuine chart-topping planetary popular hit, yet forcing institutions similar the Grammys and Junos to "formally reward" AI creations in a bid to stay relevant. "Then, the deluge volition genuinely begin," helium said.