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US man pleads guilty to defrauding music streamers out of millions using AI
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2026
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Technology
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We are getting to the point where a Butlerian jihad will be necessary. Though shalt not make a machine in the image type vibe. The arts exist for people to explore and enjoy.
This criminal is guilty of fraud, similar to Trump. Cunningly he did it in a way that was not easily detectable. How many others are now considering ways to do something similar. So to make a personal decision not to use AI is not going to affect these fraudsters.
Who gives a shit about the fraud? Nobody actually enjoys listening to AI music and he defrauded Spotify. Good for him, frankly, shame he got caught. Obligatory fuck AI.
You'd be surprised with the amount of people who love the Muzak-filled playlists made by Spotify.
Honestly, I kinda don't believe it. I once was listening to music as background noise on YouTube, and the auto-play algorithm apparently put me on a video of AI-generated music. After around 10 minutes or so, something just felt off to me, the music felt really boring and lifeless, and so I alt-tabbed and discovered it was AI. I wasn't actively listening or even paying attention and my subconscious clocked it.
I would heavily doubt the reports you receive about the popularity or success of AI-generated art. There are very influential and powerful people and institutions heavily invested in it who have a very strong incentive to manufacture evidence and just outright lie about it to keep the bubble inflated, either because they're true believers in AI, or because they want to offload their investment to retail investors before the bubble pops
I'm not talking about popularity or success here. But rather, I think you massively overestimate the ear of the average Spotify subscriber.
You might be right, I've always considered my ear to be below average to be honest, but maybe I'm underestimating myself, or overestimating others
The article says he took money from the pool that pays actual artists. The fraud was against them not specifically Spotify. Personally, I think Spotify, Netflix, Amazon are abominations in the way they use their control to defraud suppliers and customers alike and should be reigned in but ripping off what little artists get is bad. Not victimless.