Is This Viral AI-Generated Eminem, Post Malone and Jelly Roll Song, ‘Devil in Her Eyes’, a Worrying Sign of the Times?

When you think about your favourite artist, what is it that makes them stand head and shoulders above the rest? Is it simply their voice? Their lyrics? Their production? Or is it something more intangible, something related to the person behind the music?

These are the kinds of questions listeners are being forced to answer when faced with an increasingly deceptive array of AI-generated songs on YouTube, TikTok and more.

These come in a variety of forms - sometimes, they're simply an AI-generated country or rap song. But often, you'll find surprisingly realistic AI versions of songs by the likes of Morgan Wallen and Lainey Wilson. These swing wildly from playful to amusing to downright bizarre, with clips of the beloved Cars character Mater singing John Denver's ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ sat alongside videos of an AI-generated Travis Scott on a hay-bale singing Morgan Wallen's ‘Jack and Jill’.

Generally, because of how intentionally ridiculous they are, these AI-generated songs feel relatively harmless. However, as is the overarching worry with AI, the issue arises when it becomes difficult to discern if a song is actually by an artist or if it's fabricated.

This is the case with a new AI-generated song that's been making the rounds, titled ‘Devil in Her Eyes’. The track is listed as being by Eminem, Post Malone and Jelly Roll.

Upon closer inspection, in the caption to any video of the track, it's made clear that this is not a real song by these artists. Yet this signposting has been subtle enough to deceive a host of listeners. A skim through Google Trends shows that ‘Devil in Her Eyes’ has been one of the most-searched terms associated with Em, Jelly and Post over the past week, with fans trying to find the song on streaming platforms.

The song itself is relatively catchy, and definitely feels as though it's up Jelly Roll's street, given the soulful hook and the spiritually-minded imagery. Although having a distinct melody and lyrics, ‘Devil in Her Eyes’ is thought to be loosely based on a song by the same name from an up-and-coming artist named Bryce Savage.

Some outlets have even been taking to platforms such as Facebook - which is known to be the preferred social media outlet for older users, who inevitably find it harder to distinguish between AI-generated videos and real clips - to announce that ‘Devil in Her Eyes’ is a new song released by Eminem, Jelly Roll and Post Malone.

Before AI was in the picture, avid fans would scour the internet looking for unreleased snippets and low-fidelity leaks from artists - which would often come from the artists’ own teams themselves to try and create a buzz around forthcoming releases. This material would generally be posted by random fan accounts, so you can see why some might see ‘Devil in Her Eyes’ and assume it's a genuine leak.

It raises the question of just how big a threat AI-generated music poses to artists. Many use the same argument that has been applied to justify the pitfalls of social media, positing that AI is simply a powerful tool, and just like any other tool, the extent to which it yields positive or negative consequences depends on the user.

Various artists have been making a stand in recent years to try and counter the destructive potential of AI, with Martina McBride, Lainey Wilson and FKA Twigs all testifying in favour of introducing legislature that would restrict AI-generated videos with an artist's likeness or voice. Wilson donned this kind of AI a “personal violation”.

At the other end of the spectrum, you have artists such as Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) who are actively incorporating AI into their music. Ye has allegedly used AI to polish off his raps on recent projects, sparking widespread criticism from fans.

Recently, TikTok has been flooded by x-rated AI country song parodies, which attempt to play on the genre's stereotypically ‘prim and proper’ lyrical themes and tropes. A number of these also poke fun at country music's lack of same-sex couples in their love stories, with a slew of tongue-in-cheek AI tracks covering these topics.

While some traditional-leaning fans might clutch their pearls at these explicit, profanity-laden AI tracks, these kinds of songs aren't the issue. Aside from the fact that they're very obviously AI, and presented as such, they're not ascribed to any particular artist.

Things would get thorny if one of these erotic country songs was given a vocal filter and billed as a Lainey Wilson track. While most fans could probably figure out it wasn't legit, there will always be a slew of listeners that struggle to tell the difference between an AI-generated set of Lainey vocals and the real deal - and this will only become harder. We see AI getting more and more realistic, as the viral ‘bunnies jumping on a trampoline’ video - which hoodwinked most of us - highlighted.

Which brings us back to that original question. If Morgan Wallen is your favourite artist, what is it that makes him your favourite? Is it simply the quality of the music? Or is it something about the artist creating the music, and what they represent, perhaps?

If ‘Whiskey Glasses’ had actually been released by another artist, but sounded exactly the same as Morgan Wallen's version - so the vocals, production, melody, etc. are all note for note the same, would you love it as much as you love Wallen's rendition?

Instinctively, the answer is surely ‘no’. Otherwise, why would Wallen fans get so irate when copycats enter the fray and try to copy his signature sound. What's more, when we fall in love with a song or an album, it's rarely purely about the music itself.

We might have decided to give it a listen because we felt aligned with the messaging and promo surrounding it, or perhaps we identified with or simply warmed to the artist.

There's a reason fans will pay hundreds of dollars for a nosebleed seat to see their favourite artist. They'll spend the whole time watching them on the JumboTron, and they'd probably get a much better (and cheaper) view scrolling through TikTok videos of the show. But there's something about being in the same space as the artist and feeding off their energy and that of your fellow fans around you.

All this is to say that, even if we don't do it consciously, and no matter how hard we try to separate the art from the artist, inevitably, we often look for the human element in art. It gives us something to hold onto, another story to resonate with.

While we don't think AI-generated versions of our favourite songs and artists are going to replace the originals any time soon, the popularity of tracks like ‘Devil in Her Eyes’ - and the mistaken belief that they are legitimate - remains a cause for concern.

As the technology gets better, it's important that education and awareness improves in tandem, so that artists’ work is not undermined or cheapened by AI-generated imitations.

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