What Is The Deicide AI Album Cover Art Controversy? Metal Music's Meeting With AI, Explained

Artificial intelligence might feel a little bit satanic when you encounter it online, but apparently it cannot make a convincing picture of the Devil. In the latest controversy around AI art, Deicide, a metal band, has been accused by fans of using an AI image generator for an album cover.

By this point in the AI revolution, nearly everyone who goes online regularly has encountered AI content. Sometimes, we might be fooled. Other times (and, hopefully, this is most of the time) we know enough to detect when something is obviously AI-generated.

Exploring the vast realm of AI-generated art online can be a captivating journey, but amidst the beauty lies a landscape fraught with authenticity concerns. In this article, we delve into the nuances of navigating AI art on platforms, unraveling the intricacies of identifying genuine creativity amidst the sea of digital creations.

One of the previous three paragraphs was generated by an AI.

How Did The Controversy Begin?

It all started on February 9th, 2024, when several accounts on X posted versions of an album cover for the band's forthcoming project, "Banished by Sin."

In the comments, metal fans immediately clocked that something didn't seem right. They thought the image looked a little too sharp and generic. They also couldn't find it on the band's official website. For a few days, posters online thought it might just be an image generated by a fan using an AI.

But then, on February 14th, the Deicide released a single, "Sever the Tongue," with the album cover attached to it, leading fans to realized that it was, at least at that point in time, the official album cover.

Will It Actually Be The Album Cover?

After February 14th, Deicide faced backlash on social media as fans posted about their rage at seeing an apparently AI-generated album cover.

For many, they saw it as an insult to human beings and to artistry in general. The same response has been seen in some of the negative reaction to new video-generating AI technologies. These fans wanted to see the band hire a real, living person to make creative work.

The band may have heard their complaints, because on February 15th, the album art for "Sever the Tongue" was replaced by a new image on Spotify, which one poster noticed and shared.

Is It Actually Generated By AI?

Deicide did not respond to a request for comment, and there has been no official word on whether the album cover is actually generated by AI or not. The fact that the band appeared to change the album cover after seeing backlash online indicates there might be something going on, but nothing is particularly clear at the moment.

What is apparent, however, is that audiences are now skeptical of what they see online and they don't like seeing AI-generated stuff where they would rather see human creativity.

There also seem to be some patterns emerging in how audiences identify possibly AI-generated content: the "Banished by Sin" cover attracted attention, maybe, because it was too much of a stereotypical kind of album cover by a metal band. The image is also very sharp, looks to be made with digital tools and the lighting falls a little strangely in some places.

The demon's hands are not visible, however, so the numbers of fingers (or talons?) on its body is unclear.

For the full history of the Deicide AI Art Album Cover Controversy, be sure to check out our entry on the meme here for even more information.