Watch out, Google, Bing, and ChatGPT: Spotify is the latest tech company to launch a big, new AI feature. And it's something completely different: an AI DJ.
The DJ — which uses a combination of personalization technology, generative AI, and an AI voice — is now available to Premium users in the U.S. and Canada. To use Spotify's AI DJ, open the app and select the "music" tab. Then tap anywhere on the DJ card, the large blue rectangle. To switch up the theme of the music the DJ is playing, tap the circular icon in the bottom right-hand corner.
When you first open the DJ feature, the DJ, X, introduces itself in its super-realistic human voice before playing a selection of songs the algorithm chooses based on your previous listening. Think of it as a twist on Spotify's discovery playlists, but now you don't have to choose which one to listen to, and the AI voice adds commentary curated by Spotify's music experts.
X is named after Xavier Jernigan, head of cultural partnerships and host at Spotify, who provided his own voice for the AI to model. Jernigan worked with the team to make the DJ as accurate to his vocabulary and speech patterns as possible, and the result is uncanny. If, like me, you're one to zone out while listening to music, the semi-frequent interruptions from this not-human DJ may startle you.
The tag line of the new feature is "Just hit play and let Spotify do the rest"; when you do so, the DJ cycles through different themed short collections of songs that balance familiar and new music. These mini playlists are based on your own "Recent listening" as well as "Editors picks," "Throwbacks," "Recommended for you," and "Your past." Songs tend to be organized by genre or a vibe. The DJ usually adds some explanation for the songs that aren't already in your rotation, but X is no match for the kind of excitement and analysis you get from a music savvy friend or even a good radio DJ.
For example, after I pressed the DJ button to change up the music, X said, "Alright, let's jump to some artists I picked out for you. They all have kind of a similar vibe. First up, I've got a classic from Calvin Harris. It's called 'This Is What You Came For' and it features Rihanna. It was a huge hit when it dropped in 2016, and it's still a banger today."
First of all, shouldn't Spotify's algorithm know that I — and almost everyone else — knows that song? And what kind of context is that?! If the AI was truly personalized to me, it would mention that Taylor Swift wrote it.
The simple commentary is created by generative AI in the hands of Spotify's music experts, who are part of a writers room that curates the AI. The text-to-speech system Spotify used to create the DJ was developed by the AI voice company Sonantic, which it acquired this summer.
A spokesperson from Spotify told Mashable that its research found that users are more likely to listen to something new when they get some commentary. Maybe they're still working out the kinks on what that commentary should actually be.
Perhaps the spookiest part of the DJ are those songs from your past. X is intent on preying on nostalgia and, according to the spokesperson, "serving up memories." Instead of letting you intentionally revisit old tunes when and if you're ready, the DJ reminds you of them whether you want it or not. For example, X set the scene of major pop culture moments that occurred in 2019, then played me a run of my forgotten top songs of that year, including Goldlink's "Herside Story" and "2009" by Mac Miller, yanking me back to ecstasy and doldrums of college.
Overall, I found the constant change in music mood draining, and X's picks, like a song off of an album called "Aphex Twin for Guitar," by Simon Farintosh (why would it think I want an an acoustic version of electronic music?) made me question just how personalized it really is.
We've long relied on algorithms to help us cut through the overwhelming amount of content out there, but the DJ made me extremely wary of leaving something I love and do every day in the hands of AI. Call me old-fashioned, but I would rather be deliberate about what I listen to, and discover music organically, with care.
