Madonna's tour includes AI content – report

Madonna has embraced a text-to-video tool to create some visuals for her ongoing Celebration Tour.

The moving images of "swirling, sunset-tinted" clouds playing on the screens behind the pop singer during her rendition of the 1980s hit La Isla Bonita were created using text-to-video software, the Associated Press reported.

Madonna's team collaborated with the New York-based startup Runway to create some visuals for her Celebration Tour that will conclude in late April in Mexico.

The decision was made after conventional computer graphics to evoke the tropical mood of La Isla Bonita turned out "pretty bland and cheesy," and Madonna "didn't like it," Sasha Kasiuha, the creative director of the concert tour, told the Associated Press.

The use of the artificial intelligence technology was "more of an experiment" to Madonna who "loves when you bring in new technology and new kinds of visual elements," Kasiuha said.

Runway released its first public text-to-video model in March last year, followed by a more advanced version several months later. While the software "can't yet make a full-length documentary," it could help with the supporting shots, according to CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela.

Using Runway's tools could save "perhaps like a week of work," Valenzuela told the Associated Press.

Other companies working on generative AI that can turn textual descriptions into hyperrealistic videos include OpenAI, which announced its own Sora model in February.

OpenAI said Sora could "create videos of up to 60 seconds featuring highly detailed scenes, complex camera motion, and multiple characters with vibrant emotions."