Stewart's AI Ozzy should make us all feel paranoid

The tacky video on the singer's tour shows deceased stars taking selfies in heaven, writes Micha Frazer-Carroll. Is this really a loving tribute or some demented act of puppetry?

- By Micha Frazer-Carroll

In a recent meeting at work, conversation turned to the ethics of AI. It's a discussion I dread, partly because every time I've had it recently, it feels so unwieldy. Once it starts, there's no putting a lid on it. “ChatGPT has made my life easier,” someone will say.

In a recent meeting at work, conversation turned to the ethics of AI. It's a discussion I dread, partly because every time I've had it recently, it feels so unwieldy. Once it starts, there's no putting a lid on it. “ChatGPT has made my life easier,” someone will say. “It’s a slippery slope,” the other will reply. “We just need to learn to use it responsibly,” the first person might respond. “Gen Z’s use of these tools is out of control, they’re all writing their essays with them,” the other might clap back.

This week, I felt a similar feeling of apprehension when I saw a version of this conversation playing out in response to a tribute to Ozzy Osbourne. One of Osbourne’s peers, rock star Rod Stewart, was facing a spate of online criticism for screening a bizarre AI-generated video of the late Black Sabbath frontman.

In the video, which Stewart screened at a concert in Alpharetta, Georgia, Osbourne can be seen holding a selfie stick, posing and laughing with other deceased celebrities in that airbrushed, uncanny slow-mo effect that is typical of AI content. Padded by a backdrop of blue sky and clouds, the implication was that Osbourne, Tupac, Michael Jackson, Freddie Mercury and others were now taking selfies in heaven. “This is the craziest, most disrespectful shit I ever saw in my LIFE!!!” wrote one person who shared the video.