Taylor Swift’s promotional campaign for her twelfth album, The Life of a Showgirl, sparked debate among fans after they suspected that some of the campaign’s visuals were AI-generated. The global scavenger hunt, announced via Google and Instagram, involved fans searching for “Taylor Swift” on Google to uncover a cryptic message: “12 cities, 12 doors, 1 video to unlock.”
Fans had to locate physical doors in different cities, scan QR codes, and collectively click 12 million times online to unlock the lyric video for “The Fate of Ophelia.” However, some of the 12 clue videos appeared synthetic, leading to speculation that Google’s AI video tools, such as Veo 3, were used in the campaign.
Google did not respond to requests for comment on whether AI was involved. The discussion around AI is particularly sensitive for Swift, who criticized the use of AI-generated images last year after a fake endorsement of Donald Trump using her likeness went viral.
While the scavenger hunt captivated Swift’s fanbase, the AI speculation highlighted growing unease around synthetic media in creative industries.
