Imagine a world where you stop listening to the radio because you get annoyed by how music that has been on repeat since 2016 keeps getting interupted by the constant ad breaks, news breaks and a person that you barely even tolerate.
Imagine someone developed an app that was all about just listening to the music you like. Imagine, they developed an algorithm that specifically suggests music tailored to your music taste. Imagine for only R70 a month you could have that uninterupted. That sounds powerful!
Now, imagine all of that existed but instead of no interuptions they added an A.I. DJ that selects songs from your music catalogue as well as songs it thinks you might like while providing light banter and just saying something barely relevant to the music you are listening to.
Welcome to the new Spotify!
The irony of that joke coming from an ex-radio presenter is not missed on me. I should say I know a lot of incredibly talented radio presenters who are not vapid. Which furthers my distaste for the spotify DJ feature they recently launched.
I was intrigued by the prospect at first, I thought it might be fun. I tried it once and I think never again. A voice pulled straight from the uncanny valley pops up to say something that was not relevant to me and barely relevant to the songs being chosen. It was uncomfortable.
There is not much more to review about Spotify DJ, that was my experience. I felt so uncomfortable that I closed the app and went for a walk. I now avoid looking at that feature.
I do not know why tech bros think A.I. like this is what people want. It is like Apple ‘inventing’ a strap for their airpods. It is innovation from people who clearly aren’t all that innovative.
There used to be a saying “if you don’t have anything good to say, then do not say anything”. I feel like people in tech need a new version “if you do not have anything good to come up with, then don’t come up with anything.”