Google’s annual product festival showcased a range of new AI services, including Veo, a video generation model that competes with OpenAI’s Sora in creating professional-looking footage, and AI Music Sandbox, a tool that uses machine learning to create musical compositions. The company enlisted big names like actor Donald Glover and musician Wyclef Jean to promote these new tools, with Glover emphasizing the importance of storytelling in a promo video shown at the I/O developer conference.
In the promotional video, Glover is seen working with his production team and Google researchers in Ojai, California, using Veo to create a short film. Meanwhile, Jean demonstrates the capabilities of AI Music Sandbox by mixing Haitian and Brazilian styles on a guitar sample. While Google did not disclose how much they paid each artist for their appearances, these celebrity endorsements are not new for the company, with other stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo and John Legend having previously worked with Google on various projects.
The use of AI in creative industries has sparked controversy, with fears that artists could be replaced by machines. When actors, writers, and directors went on strike last year, a major issue in contract negotiations was the use of generative AI. Apple’s recent commercial for its new iPad, which depicted musical instruments and books being crushed, also faced backlash from actors. A group of over 200 musicians, including Billie Eilish and Stevie Wonder, signed an open letter urging tech companies not to develop AI tools that could undermine human songwriters and artists.
Despite the backlash from some artists, not all musicians are unified against AI. Grimes, for example, invited creators to make new music using AI-generated versions of her voice, offering to split royalties from successful tracks. Google also unveiled other AI tools at the conference, such as Project Astra, which turns its AI model Gemini into an agent that can analyze a user’s surroundings in real-time through a smartphone camera. However, the tech giant has faced criticism in the past for its AI products, with Gemini being paused earlier this year due to generating historically inaccurate images.
In Glover’s promo video for Veo, he emphasizes the importance of making mistakes quickly in the creative process, highlighting the software’s role in speeding up the art-making process. Ultimately, Google’s new AI tools aim to provide artists and creators with innovative ways to enhance their work, while also sparking important conversations in the creative industry about the use of AI technology. As the debate surrounding AI in creative industries continues to evolve, it remains to be seen how artists, tech companies, and audiences will navigate the intersection of art and technology in the future.
