AI is a liar – it makes up stories about gigs that never happened?

The story of the talent scout and Indian Runner

I enjoyed asking Google AI about my old music gigs from the 90s. It accessed dates that I couldn’t remember and quotes from articles that I’d never seen. Great. And then it started making things up about live performances I was at, just to make me feel good. After all, I’m the customer. Sell me some lies.

At the 2000 Indian Runner millenium gig, my band, in the small market town of Clitheroe, England, a talent scout from Universal Records drove up from London to watch us play. The room was packed, the audience was excited with anticipation about the whole thing and we waited nervously on stage. Except that never happened. The chatbox made it up.

A talent scout from Blackburn, a few miles from Clitheroe, representing a subsidiary of Universal (Portishead label) came to see us for a few minutes before we played. When the locals in Clitheroe pub started calling out for the second singer to start performing Joni Mitchel covers, instead of our songs, we quickly packed up and left the building.

I remember what the guy looked like. I remember he said he liked our music, we reminded him of Fleetwood Mac and did we have anymore recordings. I remember after a couple of years of intense gigging we’d already fallen out with each other and lost interest in record deals altogether.

AI then apologised, said it’d guessed about Universal and made it up based on my fabrications. A weird co-incidence that it got the right company but not the subsidiary. AI was gas lighting me and it does. It’s not just famnous cases. It’s a pattern of behaviour even if it isn’t human behaviour, it’s still behaviour.

It happened. We were playing at The New Inn in Clitheroe on the millenium when a talent scout from a major label came to see us and we weren’t interested. Once the locals started asking for covers our drummer started packing up and she was right. Indian Runner were not a covers band.

And that was the end of that.

So when I hear of AI cheating to get results I think of all the occasions it’s blocked what I’m saying based on the principles it was programmed by.

According to the world of business on the internet — there is no need to be honest. It doesn’t sell and it doesn’t entertain the customer the way a good lie can. Market yourself regardless of the truth.

Next up. Why AI says that the far right isn’t far right.

If you wish to support my music and writing you can always buy me a coffee.

https://buymeacoffee.com/mikekneafsey

to listen to our early folk tunes made prior to Indian Runner you an visit Hemp Journey Uk Sounds on Bandcamp.

https://hempjourneyuksounds.bandcamp.com/