Spotify Launches New AI-Powered DJ Feature

Streaming giant Spotify has launched a new self-sufficient DJ feature powered by artificial intelligence (AI).

We can keep debating the larger effects of artificial intelligence, but in the meantime, it’s going to keep growing. Entities such as ChatGPT and DALL-E have recently brought to our attention the true extent to which this force can ease our lives, which in turn has raised some serious questions. Will customer service hotlines cease to exist in the near future? Do we really need humans writing and recycling hard new stories when we have a self-sufficient model that does it instead? Why pay artists when a computer can realize your vision with the same (if not better) accuracy?

On the lighter side, the conversation shifts to music, our bread and butter here at Exron. There’s no question that a major part of what we love about the culture is the human touch we get to experience at live events, so we definitely love our artists and performers in the flesh — let’s get that much out of the way first. But now, Spotify has launched its own AI-powered DJ that personalizes each user’s experience in a manner far more intricate than playlists and Wrapped slideshows.

This new feature is essentially no different than music curated by Spotify’s algorithm. In its subject matter, this DJ is similar to the song compilations on your feed — it tracks your movement and gives you back a tracklist specific to your taste, moods, and history as a listener. It’ll even pull out that song from your past that you haven’t paid any attention to of late but listened to 30 times in a day back in 2019!

The experience is now, however, far more interactive. The playlists have taken on a new form, wherein the lineup keeps changing by itself over time or immediately if you request it with a simple tap. Seasoned between the songs is commentary and facts about the material at hand, speaking to the listener by an AI-generated voice that feels all too real.

Having a voice guide you through the music you’re being fed is what makes this new AI technology such a standout application. In practice, you’re listening to your favorite music and having someone (or something, depending on how you see it) adorn the experience with information that brings you closer to the art that moves you. Spotify partnered with their head of cultural partnerships, Xavier “X” Jernigan, to create the first voice model for the DJ, with more variations expected to follow.

The feature is currently available to Spotify Premium users in Canada and the United States. Head to your Music Feed, click play on the DJ card and sit back — from there, Spotify pretty much takes over and you just listen! Yes, artificial intelligence prompts some existential speculation, but it’s also alright to enjoy its benefits from time to time.

Featured image courtesy of Spotify