Brian May has urged UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham to block AI "before it's too late" after being left outraged by an AI-generated image of his former Queen bandmate Freddie Mercury.
The guitarist had asked Meta AI to recreate the cover of Queen's 1980 album The Game — and was unsettled by the result, which resurrected Mercury, who died in 1991, alongside a mangled, unrecognisable version of the rest of the band.
"I just had to share this with you guys," May wrote on Instagram. "I asked Meta AI to show me what the cover of THE GAME album looked like. This is what it gave me! Good job, eh? So this is the kind of intelligence that will soon be ruling the world??! Well, great. Maybe this is the time to realise WE ACTUALLY DON'T NEED AI!!!"
The real cover shows all four Queen members standing side by side in matching leather jackets.
May used the moment to press a wider point about AI's expansion in the UK, appealing directly to Prime Minister Andy Burnham to intervene.
"We must not allow these hideous Data Centres to be built in the UK," he wrote. "They will destroy our beautiful country, like they are already destroying beautiful America. Dear Andy — you must stop it now. Before it's too late. Bri."
May has spoken out about AI's risks to musicians and the environment for several years. He joins a growing list of musicians voicing concern over AI's environmental footprint, including Willie Nelson, who has criticised data centre development near his hometown in Texas.
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