Singer Grimes voiced her anger on X (formerly Twitter) about a Sephora advertisement that interrupted her Apple Podcasts listening experience. She felt the ad, which she believes was AI-targeted, intruded on her personal space and learning time, expressing concern that such ads promote unrealistic beauty standards.
Grimes stated that the incident made her feel enraged and worried about shielding her daughter from the pressures of societal beauty standards. She feels that the constant bombardment of such messages constitutes a significant mental drain.
This incident comes against a backdrop of Grimes' previous public statements regarding AI. She has expressed openness to AI-generated music, even offering to split royalties from any successful song that uses her voice. Further, she has launched an open-source platform, Elf.Tech, which enables users to create AI-generated vocals that mimic her own voice.
The article notes that while Apple Podcasts offers paid, ad-free subscription services, its free service contains advertisements. Grimes' experience highlights the potential intrusion of such ads, even when users expect a quiet and peaceful environment.
Neither Apple nor Sephora responded to requests for comment from Business Insider regarding Grimes's claims of an AI-targeted ad.
Grimes said she was "enraged" to be served a Sephora advertisement while she tuned into an episode on Apple Podcasts to help her fall asleep.
In a series of Tuesday posts on X, the Canadian singer, whose real name is Claire Elise Boucher, said she was listening to a podcast related to the "history of war on the American frontier" when a Sephora ad interrupted it.
She said she was "very upset that they let the beauty demons into my learning space" and didn't expect to be served ads in the "quiet moments when I put on a podcast to take a nap."
"Can I go somewhere where someone isn't shoving 'DONT YOU WANT TO BE BEAUTIFUL' down my throat,'" Boucher wrote on X.
In her posts, Boucher said she thinks she was hit by an AI-targeted ad and said the experience was like being stalked by a "demonic ai wraith."
It's unclear if Boucher's experience was the result of an AI-targeted ad campaign. Apple and Sephora did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
"The insidiousness of what our culture does to young women is insane. I feel enraged knowing I won't be able to protect my daughter from this. What a monumental waste of mental space," Boucher wrote on X.
The singer shares three children — two boys and one girl — with Elon Musk.
Apple Podcasts offers subscription services through which users can pay for an ad-free experience. Subscription prices vary by channel.
The free Apple Podcasts service comes with ads.
Boucher has previously shared her views on artificial intelligence. In 2023, she said she would be open to having her voice used in AI-generated music.
"I'll split 50% royalties on any successful AI generated song that uses my voice," she said in a post on X, which was then called Twitter. "Same deal as I would with any artist i collab with. Feel free to use my voice without penalty."
"I think it's cool to be fused w a machine and I like the idea of open sourcing all art and killing copyright," she added in a later post.
In 2023, the singer also launched an open-source platform called Elf.Tech, which lets users produce AI vocals that sound like her.
Boucher did not respond to BI's request for comment.
If you often open multiple tabs and struggle to keep track of them, Tabs Reminder is the solution you need. Tabs Reminder lets you set reminders for tabs so you can close them and get notified about them later. Never lose track of important tabs again with Tabs Reminder!
Try our Chrome extension today!
Share this article with your
friends and colleagues.
Earn points from views and
referrals who sign up.
Learn more