Introduced in the UK and Australia in April, Spotify's AI Playlist feature is now available to users in the US, New Zealand, Canada, and Ireland, and in Spotify's own words, “AI Playlists is Spotify's powerful personalization technology combined with generative AI, allowing users to turn their most creative ideas into playlists

What does that mean for you? You know how when you tell a generative AI model how you want a photo to look, it spits out an ugly 7-finger photo? It's kind of like that: you write your ideal playlist, and Spotify's AI playlist bot will find the music that matches it and create a sophisticated playlist for you

The feature is currently still in beta, but access is very easy, especially if you follow Spotify's steps in the image below But is it a good thing?

Is it It certainly is There are certainly subtle shifts in the definitions of certain genre terms Let me give you an example I love heavy music: I mean heavy music Crushing, obliterating, those are the words I use to describe the music I love So when I asked the AI playlist maker to create a playlist of “the heaviest music imaginable,” that's exactly what I wanted See below

Now, the playlist can be narrowed down No, more heavily” And sure enough, instead of the heaviest music a baby has ever heard (sorry, Slipknot fans), I ended the day by spitting out hardcore

But I want more I want music that makes me feel like I'm being put to the grindstone around my neck and forced to do physical labor Like being physically assaulted by musicians HEAVIER”

Sure enough, this time I got what I wanted - heavy music from the abyss, Celtic Frost, Dragged Into the Sunlight It's the kind of music that most people would shy away from It's fantastic

Now, my example is niche to say the least, but it underscores the fact that to get what you really want, you need a little cooperation with a playlist builder Of course, if you just want something to chill out to when you're having a barbeque with friends, you can type in “chill, family-friendly summer barbeque vibes” and get a playlist suitable for grilling meat

Actually, I am the worst example of someone to try an AI playlist builder I like to carefully build playlists until I have a monster that fills hours with music that fits a particular mood or title To me, playlist building is an art, and like a photograph of a nice view, I would rather it be created by a person rather than a learning AI model But that's just me

For everyone else, playlist makers would be great fun and actually very useful If you have a party coming up, a chill session with your high school friends, or a wedding (and want to save money on the increasingly expensive cost of DJing), you could use it Just keep in mind that people (especially those of you who are having weddings) can do a much better job if someone else does it

This is a great addition to Spotify's AI capabilities, and is perfectly placed next to something like AI DJ, where you let a playlist or album play and the “what's next” algorithm takes over and tells you what's coming next

Neither feature is going to draw me back to the Spotify service