Fans call out Grammy winner for disturbing request: 'This is a pretty bad thing to joke about'

Singer-songwriter Chappell Roan, who recently won the award for Best New Artist at the 2025 Grammys, is facing backlash on Reddit for a now-deleted Instagram Story. 

In the post, a user shared a screenshot of Roan's story, which read: "Taking AI submissions in dm. Requirement: Make an insane AI pic of me and Misha (we are cousins, don't be weird)."

"Even as a joke, AI puts all of us in danger, including her," the original poster wrote. "This is a pretty bad thing to joke about, especially since you didn't ask an actual artist to do some work for you. You just had to go with the exploitative device."

Beyond the environmental impact of artificial intelligence, which uses massive amounts of water and electricity, the ethical concerns with generative AI raise issues.

The increasing prevalence of AI-generated images, especially when it comes to news and public figures, has given rise to a problem that we will all have to face, as The New York Times discussed recently: How can we know what is real anymore?

The same question has been raised in the legal sphere, per Indiana University, and questions about who is credited for AI generated images are still up in the air. 

These concerns aren't just theoretical. As the Times reported, AI-generated visuals have already been used to fabricate scenes of war and humanitarian crises, blurring the line between satire and misinformation.

When used frivolously — such as for fan art or shock humor — these tools drain real-world resources without meaningful benefit. While the blame is not just on Roan, her recent post — while seemingly harmless — points to a darker truth.

Similar to the original poster, many commenters offered worries, further exposing how even an apparently innocuous request can feature hidden dangers.

"I feel like it's extremely short-sighted for celebrities to encourage the use of AI, especially the use of AI to create fake images," one user said. 

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They went on to talk about how Roan's own condemnation of fans' potential to create "weird" images points to the greater problem: that AI can be used harmfully, especially when real human subjects are involved.

"It was irresponsible and ridiculous of her to ask the thousands of fans on that spam account for AI images," another said. "And for someone who touts a lot about artistry, it comes off as hypocritical. Most everyone knows how generative AI steals from artists."

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