Fans defend its use.
On November 23, Mnet held on the third and final day of MAMA Awards 2024 at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan. This was the final night of the awards ceremony, which brought great victories to the best K-Pop artists in the world. Aespa was among the groups that took home more than one award.
Aespa’s “Supernova” won “Song of the Year,” “Best Choreography” and “Best Girl Group Dance Performance,” while “Armageddon” earned them the award for “Best Music Video.”
[#2024MAMA] BEST MUSIC VIDEO #aespa #espa @aespa_official #Armageddon
We proudly announce the great winner of the MAMA AWARDS 2024!🏆
BIG BLUR: What’s real?
MAMA AWARDS 2024#MAMAAWARDS#2024MAMAAWARDS pic.twitter.com/07wGtAPBKB— MAMA PRIZES (@MnetMAMA) November 23, 2024
aespa drives MAMA 2024 crazy 😮💨😭
🏆 “Best Girl Group”
🏆 “Best Choreography”
🏆 “Best Female Dance Performance Group”
🏆 “Fan’s Choice Award — TOP 10”🔜 “Best Music Video”
🔜 “Song of the Year”
🔜 “Album of the Year”
🔜 “Artist of the Year”— aechi (@aechi___) November 23, 2024
Best Music Video – ARMAGEDDON (aespa)
— Jazz (@mjkmwntr) November 23, 2024
Naturally, aespa fans were enthusiastic about the group. Many felt their wins were deserved, especially for the music video.
However, netizens argue that other artists’ music videos are more worthy.
I love Aespa but love conquers all, mv it was an absolute masterpiece please 😭😭😭😭😭 https://t.co/HY4QcGDpWN
— ᵕ̈ lee (@okeydokeykyeom) November 24, 2024
I love aespa, but let’s be honest, the best MVs of this year are Girls Never Die and HEYA in second place #2024MOM pic.twitter.com/UGjU8bVQkM
— Supreet S (@BacardixCola) November 23, 2024
And if I say Seventeen was robbed of best music video for Maestro-
An MV that used AI won over an MV that didn’t and conveyed the message that AI is harmful and can never replace human art https://t.co/WL2NOciVGj pic.twitter.com/3OTlJS6mnM
— 𝐀𝐒𝐇 (@honouredbysvt) November 24, 2024
A common criticism of Aespa’s “Armageddon” MV is that it used AI (artificial intelligence). The use of artificial intelligence is a common debate, as many are against the use of artificial intelligence and there is discussion about its ethicality. Many believe that artificial intelligence is stealing jobs; in this case specifically, they thought it was an insult to hard-working artists.
Your show is actually rigged because they gave Aespa the best choreography with that boring ass dance and also the best mv where the ai is used. With plus 2 prizes they weren’t even expected to win https://t.co/m6yDW3RWBv
— 𝒁𝒐𝒆☆¹⁷ (@yoon1004hannie) November 24, 2024
Fans jumped to aespa’s defense, as the AI clip in the MV is used for 2 seconds. Most of the MVs were created by real artists using 3D modeling/rendering and VFX.
to generative???? Don’t discredit aespa’s hard work, especially their teams of editors, creative directors and everyone who took part in this masterpiece. Something that is not commonly seen as “normal”, does not mean that everything is ai. https://t.co/ccWYeAROhY
— xo, trisH 🐹 (@lhs_h7) November 25, 2024
There are idols who use HEAVY AI for teasers, photos and actual music videos, but y’all just want to talk about Aespa’s sub 2 second AI for wtv reasons. And it’s not just because he won best mv. People have been on them for it. People just want a reason to hate aespa lmaoooo https://t.co/CjIg72BWBi
— savᵃᵉ ❤️🤎 WHIPLASH (@aespaholo) November 25, 2024
It’s called 3D modeling/rendering and VFX, not that Carats knows anything like that because these days everyone calls everything done by AI when there are real artists pouring their heart and time into every detail of the ‘MV by Aespa pic.twitter.com/OtQN5hC9LE
— ACEᵂᴺᵀᴿ |❄️Winter (@draecaryssss) November 24, 2024
Furthermore, this is not the case when using AI randomly to be “trendy”. Aespa lore has long been intertwined with the Metaverse, with each member having their own computer-generated æ-aespa counterparts. There is also the additional “member” of Nævis (also known as NAVIS or Naevis), another AI in the aespa universe responsible for helping the group and their avatars coexist while fighting the fictional villain Black Mamba. So, it’s a mark for aespa as a group to include artificial intelligence.
Just because you don’t research and educate yourself on art and visual effects doesn’t mean everything is done by AI, thanks to all the people who worked on this MV – also adding a special thanks to MY since our fandom appreciate the artistry of aespa (espacore) pic.twitter.com/jiGcXWoZPm
— ACEᵂᴺᵀᴿ |❄️Winter (@draecaryssss) November 25, 2024
not to mention aespa uses AI to enhance their futuristic/surreal concept, just like the lipsync ai in Supernova, it’s not just there because the artists were lazy https://t.co/lKsUxBqk2i
— ren (@name) November 25, 2024
when will you recognize the fact that artificial intelligence is literally part of the aespa concept?? it’s about the advancement of technology and futurism. the generated part of the mv was only 2 seconds long anyway, but they still wanted to include it and that was it. suck it already. https://t.co/qTpDapObkZ
—zuzu (@Prawilnychen) November 25, 2024
Some of the original critical tweets have since been deleted. However, some K-Pop fans maintain their stance on not using artificial intelligence.
I’m really sorry, but ai is still ai, no matter how many seconds count. It shows that it is being commercialized and generalized in the creative sector. I’m happy that Aespa got its grant, but that doesn’t mean I’m condoning SM from using AI for its artists’ mvs https://t.co/nQQFm7GpFR
— Rei or Rhey, call me whatever you want (@mochi_mangga) November 25, 2024
What do you think about the use of artificial intelligence?