Claire Boucher has always embodied the internet’s chaotic presence, both good and bad. Have you ever mistaken a shadow in your kitchen for a cockroach? Your hand catches the light just right, casting a shadow into a rarely checked corner. Your brain alerts you to something harmful and alive invading your space, a sign of deeper decay. Yet, a closer look reveals nothing; your kitchen remains safe, but the uneasy sensation persists.
Grimes’ "Artificial Angels" captures this unsettling digital unease of 2025. The music video feels like watching an endless generative AI showcase, with an array of virtual AI companions shifting around the Canadian electropop artist. In the clip, cavemen are shown smoking cigarettes labeled with the OpenAI logo, and erratic cartoon overlays mimic the overwhelming, disorienting flood of information often created by obsessive content consumers.
This is how it feels to be hunted by something smarter than you.
The primitive AI-generated voice bookends the song, reinforcing the sensation of being overwhelmed by superior intelligence. The video and song offer a momentary shock, likely to be dismissed quickly—like spotting a dead animal on a morning walk, memorable only briefly.
The song and video stand as a timely reflection on the intrusive, often unsettling presence of AI in daily life.
Author’s summary: Grimes’ "Artificial Angels" vividly portrays the disquieting blend of human and AI worlds, evoking a digital unease that is at once captivating and unsettling.