Making AI Headlines · Page 8
Spotify's AI DJ Learns That Silence Has Fans
· New York time
Spotify Premium users can customize the AI DJ with new voices and personalities, and can turn off commentary between songs. The update gives listeners more control over how much of the automated host they hear while using the music feature. The choice acknowledges a familiar tension in music services. A voice can make recommendations feel more personal, but a listener who wants a run of songs may not want an explanation between every track. Different personalities offer variety; the option for less chatter addresses the possibility that the preferred personality is occasionally quiet. For Spotify, an AI DJ can make discovery feel like a guided experience rather than a list of tracks. For subscribers, the guide has to fit the moment. A workout, a party and a quiet commute may call for very different amounts of narration. One person's helpful host is another person's interruption before the chorus. The new controls do not resolve every question about how recommendations work, but they give users a say over one conspicuous part of the experience. That is a telling feature in an industry eager to make AI more conversational. Sometimes the smartest thing a digital host can do is introduce the next song by not introducing it.
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