Aespa’s “2024 MAMA Awards” Win Triggers Debate Over AI Usage
On November 23, Mnet held the third and final day of the 2024 MAMA Awards at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan. This was the concluding night of the award ceremony, bringing some big wins for the world’s top K-Pop artists. Aespa was among the groups that took home more than one award.
Aespa’s “Supernova” won “Song of the Year,” “Best Choreography,” and “Best Dance Performance Female Group,” while “Armageddon” earned them the award for “Best Music Video.”
[#2024MAMA] BEST MUSIC VIDEO #aespa #에스파 @aespa_official #Armageddon
We proudly announce the great winner of the 2024 MAMA AWARDS!🏆
BIG BLUR : What is Real?
2024 MAMA AWARDS#MAMAAWARDS#2024MAMAAWARDS pic.twitter.com/07wGtAPBKB— MAMA AWARDS (@MnetMAMA) November 23, 2024
aespa is sweeping MAMA 2024 😮💨😭
🏆 “Best Female Group”
🏆 “Best Choreography”
🏆 “Best Dance Performance Female Group”
🏆 “Fan’s Choice Award — TOP 10”🔜 “Best MV”
🔜 “Song of the Year”
🔜 “Album of the Year”
🔜 “Artist of the Year”— echi (@aechi___) November 23, 2024
Best Music Video – ARMAGEDDON (aespa)
— Jazz (@mjkmwntr) November 23, 2024
Naturally, aespa’s fans were excited for the group. Many felt their wins were well-deserved, especially for the music video.
Yet, netizens argued that other artists’ music videos were more deserving.
i love aespa but love wins all mv was an absolute masterpiece pls 😭😭😭😭😭 https://t.co/HY4QcGDpWN
— ᵕ̈ lee (@okeydokeykyeom) November 24, 2024
I love aespa but lets be real the best MV's this year are Girls Never Die and HEYA a close second #2024MAMA pic.twitter.com/UGjU8bVQkM
— Supreet S (@BacardixCola) November 23, 2024
And if I say Seventeen was robbed of Best Music video for Maestro-
An MV which used AI in it won over an MV that didn't and conveyed the message that AI is harmful and can never replace human art https://t.co/WL2NOciVGj pic.twitter.com/3OTlJS6mnM
— 𝐀𝐒𝐇 (@honouredbysvt) November 24, 2024
One common criticism of aespa’s “Armageddon” MV is that it utilized AI (Artificial Intelligence). AI usage is a common debate, as many are opposed to the usage of AI, and there’s a discourse on its ethicality. Many feel that AI is stealing jobs; in this case, specifically, they thought it insulted hardworking artists.
Ya show is actually rigged cuz why tf they gave aespa best choreography with that boring ass dance and also best mv where ai is used. With more 2 awards that they were not even predicted to win https://t.co/m6yDW3RWBv
— 𝒁𝒐𝒆☆¹⁷ (@yoon1004hannie) November 24, 2024
Fans jumped to aespa’s defense, as the AI clip in the MV is used for 2 seconds. Most of the MV was created by real artists using 3D modeling/rendering and VFX.
generative ai???? Dont discredit aespa’s hardwork especially their teams of editors, creative directors and everyone who was part of this masterpiece. Something not commonly seen “normal”, doesnt mean its all ai. https://t.co/ccWYeAROhY
— xo, trisH 🐹 (@lhs_h7) November 25, 2024
You got idols that use HEAVY ai for teasers and photos and actual music videos, but y’all just want to talk about aespa’s under-2-seconds-of-ai for wtv reason. And ik it’s not just cause it won best mv. People BEEN on them for this. People just want a reason to hate aespa lmaoooo https://t.co/CjIg72BWBi
— savᵃᵉ ❤️🤎 WHIPLASH (@aespaholo) November 25, 2024
Its called 3D modeling/rendering and VFX, not that Carats know something like that bec these days yall call everything made by AI when there are real artists pouring their heart and time into every detail of aespa's MV pic.twitter.com/OtQN5hC9LE
— ACEᵂᴺᵀᴿ |❄️윈터 (@draecaryssss) November 24, 2024
Besides, this is not the case when randomly using AI to be “trendy.” Aespa’s lore has long been intertwined with the Metaverse, with each member having their own computer-generated æ-aespa counterparts. There’s also the additional “member” of Nævis (also known as NAVIS or Naevis), another AI in aespa’s universe responsible for helping the group and their avatars coexist as they fight the fictional Black Mamba villain. So, it’s on brand for aespa as a group to include AI.
Just because you don't do research and educate yourselves about art and vfx doesn't mean everything is done by AI, credits to all the people that worked on this MV — even adding a special thanks to MY since our fandom appreciate aespa's artistry (aespacore) pic.twitter.com/jiGcXWoZPm
— ACEᵂᴺᵀᴿ |❄️윈터 (@draecaryssss) November 25, 2024
not to mention aespa uses ai to enhance their futuristic/surreal concept, just like the ai lipsync in supernova, its not just there cus the artists were lazy https://t.co/lKsUxBqk2i
— ren (@renomenonn) November 25, 2024
when are yall going to acknowledge the fact that ai is literally part of aespa's concept?? it's about the progress of the technology and futurism. the generated part of the mv was only like 2 seconds anyway yet they still wanted to include it and that's it. suck it up already. https://t.co/qTpDapObkZ
— zuzu (@PRAWILNYCHEN) November 25, 2024
Some of the original critical tweets have since been deleted. Still, some K-Pop fans are standing their ground regarding not using AI.
I'm really sorry, but ai is ai nonetheless no matter how many seconds it counts. It shows that it's getting commercialized and generalized in the creative industry. I'm happy Aespa got their bag but that doesn't mean its condoning SM from using ai for their artists' mvs https://t.co/nQQFm7GpFR
— Rei or Rhey, call me whatever (@mochi_mangga) November 25, 2024
What do you think about the AI usage?
