Kanye West skeptics may have been right to question the sincerity of his surprise apology for his years of antisemitic outbursts, with a report Wednesday saying that the wording of his statement reads as though it were generated by artificial intelligence software.
The gossip site TMZ said that fans accused the embattled rapper of using AI to pull together his apology, which was posted in Hebrew on his Instagram account Tuesday. The statement began: “I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for any unintended outburst caused by my words or actions, it was not my intention to hurt or disrespect, and I deeply regret any pain I may have caused.” The statement wrapped up with the rapper vowing to “learn from this experience” and asking for forgiveness. “I am committed to making amends and promoting unity,” the apology ended.
TMZ said the statement didn’t brim with the volatile rapper’s usual “animated flair.” So the site plugged West’s apology into an AI content detector, which highlighted strong buzzwords typically associated with chatbot phrases. The buzzwords include “sincerely apologize,” “it was not my intention to hurt” and “promoting unity.” The AI content detector said there was an 85% chance that West’s apology was written by a computer.
Certainly, the wording, “I deeply regret any pain I may have caused” doesn’t sound like West, a polarizing figure in music and fashion who has become known for his erratic public behavior. He also has incited controversy for making antisemitic and sexually offensive comments in public and in his private business dealings, notably with Adidas, as a New York Times investigation revealed.
Adidas ended its lucrative deal with West in the fall of 2022, after West issued a series of antisemitic statements on social media and in interviews. He declared that he would go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” expressed his fondness for Adolf Hitler, denied the Holocaust and tweeted an image combining the Star of David with a swastika.
Recently, West appeared to double down on being provocative around the issue of antisemitism. Earlier this month, he donned a black KKK hood as he performed the title track from his new “Vultures” album at Miami’s Art Basel. He used the song to hit back at complaints about his past antisemitic behavior, rapping that he had just had sex with a Jewish woman, whom he referred to with a vulgarity. “How I’m antisemitic? I just (expletive) a Jewish (expletive),” West said, repeating the second line.
Disturbingly, West’s 10-year-old daughter, North West, was on stage with him. The girl, whose mother is Kim Kardashian, performed a musical verse in one of the album’s songs at the “Vultures Rave” concert.
TMZ said that West’s apology “doesn’t sound like typical Kanye,” and the site said it found more evidence that he, or someone on his team, turned to AI to write the statement. TMZ said it engaged ChatGPT to write a similar apology. After several prompts and some trial and error, the computer “spat out a statement eerily similar” to West’s, TMZ said.
The TMZ report raises the question of whether West is truly sorry for his antisemitic comments and genuinely means to “make amends” and promote “unity.” Or perhaps, West, or his team, felt he needed to issue an apology for PR purposes. As TMZ said, West may need to clean up his act in order to get into “the good graces” of streaming giants, which could offer the best play for his new album, which is seen as his music comeback. The album, once scheduled to be released Dec. 31, has been pushed back to Jan. 12.
