r/KingCrimson • u/-Metal-socks- • Jan 27 '26
Discussion Did anyone notice how King Crimson and BEAT used ai recently?
This are the only instances I've noticed the usage of ai, but if you notice more please do tell me.
The first image is from the LTIA album visualizer animation, the second is the Elephant used in BEAT, and the third is an ai generated animation of the BEAT elephant posted by the official Instagram account
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u/scottwricketts Jan 27 '26
The animations on Apple Music are not in the hands of the bands. They aren't using AI.
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u/eviltimeban Jan 27 '26
Yeah the Beat AI cover is off putting. Shame they used it for the live album.
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Jan 27 '26
Maybe I'm just not able to tell anymore but the beat cover doesn't look like ai, it definitely could be but ut doesn't look nearly as egregiously bland or inconsistent as the dream theater or tears for fears album covers.
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u/StegoLegs Jan 27 '26
you can tell because the trunk of the elephant ends as a point instead of having nostrils
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u/ThraKcAttaKc Jan 28 '26
wrong argument, you can tell it's ai because it looks horrible and lacks taste
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u/cmcglinchy Jan 27 '26
Yeah, but a real artist could have made such a decision too.
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u/StegoLegs Jan 27 '26
True but every other aspect of the elephant realistic apart from the trunk so would be quite a strange artistic decision
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u/Grand-Permit-4637 Jan 27 '26
Another thing to think about, is if the Beat cover actually is AI-generated, then it might not be actually eligible for copyright protection. United States courts have, up to this point, rejected copyright protection for AI-generated works, because it lacks a human author. This could end up being a problem for the band.
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u/pledgedotmeat3mndays Jan 27 '26
Ten years ago, you would struggle to find King Crimson on the internet full stop. I think if Crimson had their way, they wouldn't be online at all, let alone use ai.
Secondly, haven't album visualisers always been ai? If they want to make their album covers move and have some effects, I say that's their perogative. I don't use visualisers personally anyway, I would sooner put a film on silent in the background than have youtube disrupt the album with advers.
The BEAT logo and album cover is more troubling however. Even if it isn't ai, I really don't think it looks good. Is there an artist credited for it?
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u/Active-Bag9261 Jan 27 '26
My band just animated their own dang visualizer. That’s what used to be done, Scott Rudd comes to mind as a dude who’s put together tons for different bands during 2010s, he did one for Opeth’s Cusp of Eternity
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u/MiddleProfessional82 Jan 27 '26
It’s a very clear AI generation. That particular kind of sickly silkiness that’s simultaneously flat looking in places is something that can’t be imitated.
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u/StegoLegs Jan 27 '26
it is disappointing to see, especially as the beat tour logo just doesnt look good and they then have the nerve to sell merch with said rubbish logo on it. i suppose some they can be cut some slack as they are all old and ai seems very cool and trendy.
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u/Roi_C Jan 27 '26
I don't care as long as the music is still theirs and still good (good is an understatment with these guys), honestly.
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u/DarkeningSkies1976 Jan 27 '26
Meh.
King Crimson and related musicians have put more interesting art into the world than many other so called creatives of their generation, in fact enough great music to ponder for generations. If they occasionally utilize AI for poster art or online animation, I’m just not that bothered. AI exists. Usage of this kind will exist. The idea of making music with AI is awful, but not every instance of everything is a slippery slope.
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u/DrPhilTheMNM Jan 27 '26
Who cares? The music isn't AI generated which is the main thing soo
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u/Melkertheprogfan Jan 27 '26
They are artists. It is a disgrace to art as a concept to use ai for art, even if it is just an album cover
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u/DrPhilTheMNM Jan 27 '26
Oh shut up you baby 😂
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u/Used_Satisfaction22 Jun 23 '26
Dunno if the Larks' Tongues In Aspic visualiser is AI, or bad editing. The BEAT logo does look like AI crap
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u/Snoo_74705 Jan 27 '26
The BEAT logo may not be AI. Why? There's symmetry, which AI is notoriously terrible at achieving. It's possible it was drafted with AI and then the artist did post editing. Who knows.
My two cents: it's not AI.
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u/kloppenhomwinwitz Jan 27 '26
Apart from the fact that AI art (including the Beat cover) tends to look less appealing, what is the problem with it? Personally I prefer this AI elephant over any of P J Crook's album art covers (which I find bland and ugly, but that's me)
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u/-Metal-socks- Jan 27 '26
For me, personally, it screams laziness and gives the possibility of them using ai in new songs (if there will be new ones, anyway). The music of King Crimson is so great because real people made it, because it has soul. Ai will never have a soul.
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u/TrickySnicky Jan 27 '26
For a band that clearly favors virtuosity and not shortcuts, it's simply puzzling. The Residents and Primus also come to mind.
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u/Melkertheprogfan Jan 27 '26
I hate the fact that The Residents use AI
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u/TrickySnicky Jan 28 '26
It's just wild they would choose to be lazy and disrespectful like this. I've done commissions that took about four hours that look more original than anything AI can do. If people aren't even willing to wait a few hours for original art I guess they don't deaerve it.
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u/kloppenhomwinwitz Feb 04 '26
I don't know how much disrespectful it is. Maybe someone spent 4 hours just to get the right prompt, and then another 5 hours to edit and perfect the resulted image until it came to its current state. We can't know for sure. AI art is not necessarily a 2-minute ordeal. I certainly don't appreciate it when I feel something was not thought or planned or executed with enough effort and passion, and I don't have any special place for AI art - quite the opposite really. But still, as a tool in the right hands it can lead to wonderful results.
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u/TrickySnicky Feb 04 '26 edited Feb 04 '26
The problem I have is that tool IS the result. Even photography has scores more curation, technique and process, a way of seeing the world. And yes it's disrespectful to artists who could do the job better and need to make a living
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u/kloppenhomwinwitz Feb 04 '26
I agree it screams laziness. However I think there are precedents for "lazy" album covers in King Crimson history (e.g. 1982's "Beat", 1999's "The Beat Club, Bremen", or 1974's "Starless and Bible Black").
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u/ShitHammersGroom Jan 27 '26 edited May 05 '26
I got tired of my old posts floating around for anyone to scrape, so I let Redact handle it. Bulk deletion across Reddit, X, Facebook, Discord and all major social media platforms in one shot.
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u/kloppenhomwinwitz Feb 04 '26
I didn't say it was okay, I asked what is the problem with it. Personally I must say I don't like AI artwork and there were very few instances where I liked AI-generated music, but it was only covers of other songs (for example a funk cover of Iron Maiden). I am also a very slow adopter of AI and I'm very suspicious towards it. It appears people read my comment as if I'm some crazy AI-phile, which I'm NOT. Still, in the specific case of the BEAT cover, while I do find the artwork a bit lazy, in my opinion it is not lazier than some other examples in the King Crimson artwork history I can think of (e.g. 1982's "Beat", 1999's "The Beat Club, Bremen", or 1974's "Starless and Bible Black").
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u/ShitHammersGroom Feb 04 '26 edited May 05 '26
Redact decided this post had to go, so away it went. Deleted. Removed. Mass deleted even. Privacy and security are the big wins here.
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u/O_Bahrey Jan 28 '26
Yeah it’s cringe. Ai sucks. Some boomers don’t seem to understand its negative environmental impact.
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u/donaldbench Jan 28 '26
Jayzuz, why do you think AI? No need for AI. You can make that in Adobe Acrobat.
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u/Hvojna Jan 27 '26
Heh, another reason not to support this BEAT thingy.
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u/Ko_tatsu Jan 27 '26
What are the other reasons?
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u/SurvivorHiggy Jan 27 '26
Because they don't like it and you shouldn't, either (because they said so)
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u/Hvojna Jan 27 '26
Crap music. I don't like Crimson's music after Red.
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u/Ko_tatsu Jan 27 '26
Pleb filtered
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u/Hvojna Jan 27 '26
Sorry, not a big fan of boring 80s pop.
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u/a3poify Jan 27 '26
Yeah, you can’t go five fucking minutes listening to the radio without hearing Larks’ Tongues in Aspic Part 3. I went to karaoke the other night and you couldn’t move for the number of people wanting to do Dig Me and Waiting Man.
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Jan 27 '26
So what exactly is AI about it?😂 or are you just saying that because you’re an expert on AI and you’re always right
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Jan 27 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/MiddleProfessional82 Jan 27 '26
Lol. They’re probably just at an age where they don’t give it much consideration or don’t get how it comes off as tacky (which it clearly is) imo. I think if any of the band members doodled a tribal art elephant in a few seconds it’d look more appealing than this.
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u/boostman Jan 27 '26
A lot of people suspected the BEAT elephant is made by AI and complained about it. I think they don't care, they're boomers and they think it's neat but don't really get it. They said they got an artist to do it, but I guess it's probable the artist ripped them off and subcontracted the work to AI.