Pop star Zara Larsson is the internet’s newest “it” girl. After a wave of viral hits, including her latest album’s title track, “Midnight Sun,” and her feature on PinkPantheress’s “Stateside” remix, the Swedish singer cemented herself as the next big thing in pop music.
But fame doesn’t come without controversy, as Larsson learned when she revealed to her fan base that she uses generative AI.
The discourse began when Larsson posted about watching AI-generated content on TikTok. She first reposted an image from the account Ai Fruit Stories, a page posting AI animations of—you guessed it—drama between anthropomorphic foods.
Larsson then posted a selfie with the caption: “Sorry I can’t hang out today, I gotta see what’s happening with choclatina and strawberto,” referring to that page’s main storyline: a chocolate bar named Chocolatina who’s seducing a strawberry named Strawberto.
The situation may sound silly but it riled up Larsson’s fandom, who called her out for apparently supporting generative AI despite its harmful environmental impact, as well as for the damage so-called “AI slop” can do to creative industries.
Larsson returned to TikTok to address the controversy in a since-deleted video. “I am just a girl with a phone at the end of the day,” she said. “And I just actually just want to be funny sometimes, and want to connect with people.”
She added that she’s not an actual fan of the account she reposted, but that it randomly popped up on her For You page and she shared it, thinking her followers would find it funny. “Do I genuinely consume AI fruits cheating on each other and getting pregnant left and right? I don’t think I do,” she said.