‘True Detective’s Eagle-Eyed Sleuths Uncover AI-Created Posters In Background
Video screenshot via Max
HBO’s True Detective should be proud of its fans, who live up to its name. It wasn’t the plot they were talking about with the latest episode, but also a couple of quirky band posters spotted in the background.
These faux promotional visuals, which appeared to be crafted using artificial intelligence tools, have sparked a wave of debate among viewers.
One of the off-kilter posters featured a band named ‘Metal’, with painted faces and what looks like a distorted take on Metallica’s famous wordmark. Text reading “2st live” makes things even more surreal.
what is going on with the AI generated posters in True Detective pic.twitter.com/hLEM7pmAUM
— rachel (@rachelmillman) January 22, 2024
Another poster in the same scene, seemingly showcasing the South Korean girl group IVE, also stirred up questions about its authenticity.
Audiences have criticized the unusual artworks, labeling it as an “aggressively lazy” shortcut in set design.
“I have to say, massive downer to use AI in a True Detective season to print out posters,” notes one person. “Especially because any show like this is going to have everyone combing over every piece of set design to look for clues.”
Showrunner Issa López has addressed the curiosity surrounding these posters, commenting that the story behind these artworks is so intricate it “would require its own season.”
López justifies that the concept behind the posters was to portray the bleak and desolate life of a youth who had to create posters for a festival aimed at boomers.
The idea is that it's so sad up there that some kid with AI made the posters for a loser Metal festival for boomers.
— Issa López (@IssitaLopez) January 22, 2024
It was discussed. Ad nauseam.
She elaborates that ChatGPT arrived around the time the season was being filmed, “so, we were feeling not kind towards AI,” hence the gibberish text.
It is. There was a line in the scene about his daughter liking K pop-- but it just dragged the scene down, so I cut it.
— Issa López (@IssitaLopez) January 22, 2024
[via Metal Injection and Futurism, images via various sources]
