Grian Chatten has described learning that artificial intelligence was involved in Fontaines D.C.’s Marianne video as a real shock.
The 31-year-old frontman and lyricist stresses that the band had no inkling AI would play a part in the promo and says they will insert a clause in future contracts to guarantee the technology isn’t used, as they do not condone it.
Chatten recounted waking up around 5:30 am the day after the clip dropped and seeing an article claiming AI had been used; he contacted management to verify. It later emerged that while the principal scenes and effects were achieved through visual effects and prosthetics, AI had appeared somewhere in the workflow during postproduction.
He noted that more than 110 people contributed to the project and that it represented a substantial human effort. Yet at some point along the way, someone from the VFX team reportedly employed AI in the workflow, and neither the band nor their label or management were informed, which came as a genuine shock.
Chatten insisted that, going forward, AI should not feature in their music videos, adding that he does not condone the technology.
The singer described the irony of the situation, given that their album Dopamine Chamber contends with society’s reliance on technology.
“It’s incredibly ironic and quite contradictory,” he said, noting the album’s themes. “I had hoped to discuss my thoughts on AI in interviews at some point, and this incident has altered that conversation a little.”
“It just sucked,” he added.
When asked for his view on AI in general, Chatten did not hold back. He called it “terrifying,” recalling a scene from Dead Poets Society in which Robin Williams’ character extols poetry and literature—the very things we live for—and warning that AI threatens to steal these human experiences.
He pointed to reports about employees quitting AI startups because they claim humanity could be obsolete within a decade, arguing that AI is effectively rendering our souls obsolete, which he equates with true death.
“People say, ‘It’s here, we have to deal with it,’” he continued. “We should just switch it off.”
“It always ends this way. Every AI discussion ends on a grim note. It’s like every argument I’ve had with my father over the past three years about it. It makes life hard to be alive,” he concluded.
