If you think AI technology is all fun and games, you clearly haven't seen the 'Mike Patton as Britney Spears' Toxic video

(Image credit: Kollias Music Inventions)

It seems like every other day there's another musician or actor or film director cautioning the world about the potential dangers of AI, as that classic sci-fi 'one day the machines will rise up and enslave humanity!' trope creeps inexorably closer to reality day-by-day.

And sure, everyone may be over-reacting here, but then we saw that someone online has taken Britney Spears' Toxic video, morphed Faith No More/Mr.Bungle frontman Mike Patton's face onto the pop star's body, and attempted an AI approximation of what Patton would sound like singing this second single from Spears' 2003 album In The Zone, and frankly, we're not ok.

The person/people behind this monstrous but undeniably impressive, creation, Kollias Music Inventions say that the're all about "inventing immersive, multi-sensory experiences through music to inspire perception and provoke playful interactions". Which is a noble and entertaining pursuit, and fair play, but... shit like this can't be unseen.

The video is below. Watch at your own risk.

As we said, AI has been something of a hot topic in the entertainment world over the past year or two.

Discussing its potential with Guitar Player last year, Queen guitarist Brian May expressed fears as to where it might lead.

“I think a lot of great stuff will come from AI,” he said, “because it is going to increase the powers of humans to solve problems. But the potential for AI to cause evil is, obviously, incredibly huge – not just in music, ’cause nobody dies in music, but people can die if AI gets involved in politics and world domination for various nations. I think the whole thing is massively scary. It’s much more far-reaching than anybody realised – well, certainly than I realised.”

Nick Cave also weighed in on the subject in an interview with The New Yorker, saying, “AI may very well save the world, but it can’t save our souls. That’s what true art is for. That’s the difference. So, I don’t know, in my humble opinion ChatGPT should just fuck off and leave songwriting alone.”

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.