Taylor Swift, who once spoke out against using AI in videos, is now accused of using it in her new release

Taylor Swift’s fans are known for spotting hidden clues in everything she does from cryptic lyrics to subtle outfit choices. But this time, Swifties think they’ve uncovered something bigger: possible AI-generated imagery in promotional videos for her new album, Life of a Showgirl.

In the days leading up to the album’s release, fans could scan QR codes placed on 12 orange doors across 12 cities. Each code unlocked short teaser videos on YouTube Shorts, designed to build excitement. The clips were mysterious and each featured a letter that, when combined, formed the message: “You must remember everything, but mostly this, the crowd is your king.”

But instead of decoding the message, many fans were distracted by what looked… off. Some objects seemed to morph strangely, a squirrel turned into a chipmunk, a lamp count changed between frames, and a treadmill had odd buttons labeled “MOP,” “SUOP,” and “NCLINE.” The gibberish text especially caught attention, as it’s a common giveaway of AI-generated images.

That’s because generative AI models, which create visuals based on patterns learned from massive datasets, don’t actually understand what they’re showing. They can draw a clock, for instance, but not display a specific time accurately because they don’t know how to tell time. Similarly, they might create random strings of letters that look vaguely real, but aren’t.