Russia has found a new way to boost its propaganda war against Ukraine: making songs with artificial intelligence, as technological advancements impact wartime publicity while reshaping warfare as a whole.
From maudlin ballads to grinding thrash metal, the songs sometimes use ethnic slurs to dehumanise Ukrainians and glorify Russian soldiers.
Hundreds of such songs have taken over some of the most popular music streaming platforms in the world, including Spotify, and US-based apps like YouTube Music and Apple Music, according to a report by The New York Times . The songs generally call the war started by Russian President Vladimir Putin a “necessary defence”, while portraying the frontlines as no better than hell.
Russian Government’s Role
The organisation works closely with the Kremlin to promote patriotic values. Some services, like Deezer and YouTube Music require labelling to identify AI content. A director of the Internet Development Institute said the organisation had promoted more than 350 artistic projects about the war, according to Russian news reports cited by the NYT.
In total, as many as 981 songs were found to be “pro-Russian war propaganda” according to Terrecon, with a majority of them being released after 2024 when AI song generators like Sudo and Udio took over the market. In a response to NYT’s questions, Spotify said it had enabled a policy to label AI-generated songs and not recommend them to users.
It is not clear how far the Russian government has gone in boosting the songs’ reach on the internet, but Moscow has previously played a significant role in promoting wartime cultural content.
