SZA Battles AI From Hospital
SZA celebrated her 36th birthday from a hospital bed after a spinal injury and spoke candidly about feeling "at war" with AI in music, highlighting concerns over authenticity and the impact on Black artists. The R&B star's dual struggles with health and industry changes reflect broader tensions in music.
In response to her injury, SZA spent 30 days at the Isha Foundation, a spiritual retreat in India known for its yoga and meditation programs. The singer, who has described herself as a "happily clumsy person," focused on healing after herniating her C5 and C6 discs, which are located in the lower neck and can cause significant pain and loss of mobility. The injury and recovery period occurred shortly before her 36th birthday. SZA has been a vocal critic of AI's environmental impact, pointing to the high energy and water consumption of the data centers that power artificial intelligence. She has specifically highlighted the disproportionate effect on Black and Brown communities, referring to it as "environmental racism" and citing cities like Memphis as examples of places suffering from the pollution. Her concerns extend to the creative and economic impact on musicians, particularly emerging Black artists. She has pointed out the injustice of AI-generated covers of new artists like Olivia Dean, who then cannot collect streaming revenue from those versions of her work. SZA has described the type of AI-generated Black music she has heard as "weird, stereotypical struggle music." She argues that her own creative process, which blends personal human experience and intellectualism, is something AI cannot replicate, stating her competition isn't other artists but "anti-intellectualism and doing things easy." This sentiment was echoed in her 2022 song "Ghost in the Machine," which predated the current surge in AI popularity and included the lyrics: "Let's talk about AI, robot got more heart than I / Robot got future, I don't." Other R&B artists like Kehlani have also publicly criticized AI-generated artists. The broader music industry has shown significant concern over AI. In April 2024, over 200 artists, including Billie Eilish and Stevie Wonder, signed an open letter calling on tech companies to stop using AI to "steal professional artists' voices and likenesses." Despite initial legal actions, some major labels like Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group have since partnered with AI music companies.
