Latest news with #TimBoucher
Yahoo
25-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Quebec man who pulled off AI band hoax reveals his identity
The Quebec man who pranked journalists and music fans by saying he was behind a wildly successful AI band has revealed his identity as web platform safety and policy issues expert Tim Boucher. Speaking on video from his workspace in a rural area outside Quebec City, Boucher told CBC News Wednesday that the reality-blurring prank was partly motivated by revenge for the five years he worked as a content moderator. "When you're the one that has to deal with all the fighting and the fakery and just all of the garbage that humans can come up with, it changes how you look at the world," he said. Last month, Boucher claimed he created the Velvet Sundown, a '70s-inspired "band" that had about 300,000 monthly listeners at the time and was drawing attention for appearing to use AI. He set up an X account purporting to represent the band and fielded media requests. Using the pseudonym Andrew Frelon — frelon being the French word for hornet — he first said the band was made up of real humans, then "admitted" it was AI, then said he had nothing to do with it at all. The Velvet Sundown now has nearly 1.5 million monthly listeners and its creator remains a mystery. "I want to be able to show people a bit of what that's like — this feeling of having to determine what's real, and having to determine is this right or is this wrong, or having to make all these really weird decisions that for some reason are your problem, or your responsibility," Boucher told CBC News. Boucher has previously been in the news for publishing novels using AI and proposing an AI bill of rights. He also has a history of public pranks, having helped create a fake company and a fake art movement. He insisted on using a pseudonym when he spoke to CBC News three weeks ago, in part because he says he was bombarded with messages from people telling him to kill himself over the Velvet Sundown experiment. He says those messages have tapered off significantly. He says he also hopes to deepen the "convoluted" conversation that has come out of his experiment. "I realized that there's a limit of the depth that we can go to if I'm not willing to expose myself, too, and to be vulnerable," he said. The truth is out there The experiment has sparked conversations about the impact of AI and artificial streaming on music platforms, while spawning a miniature industry around the mysterious band. Countless AI artists with identical or similar names to the Velvet Sundown have popped up on Spotify. On YouTube, people have made videos using band's songs, dissecting the controversy, creating similar AI bands and, in one case, making an eerily realistic fake documentary. At times, it's difficult to parse who is involved with the original Velvet Sundown, who is trying to capitalize on its success and who is simply toying with the absurdity of it all. The Velvet Sundown's official social media accounts have remained quiet, and have not responded to CBC News's requests for comment. Two men behind one of whom says he's Canadian and lives part-time in Vancouver, told CBC News they are part of a network of people behind the Velvet Sundown, but declined to answer specific questions about the operation. The site is selling Velvet Sundown-branded merchandise but is not linked to the band's official Spotify or social media accounts. Meanwhile Vinyl Group, which owns Rolling Stone Australia and other music outlets, bought as a condemnation of AI trickery, with an expressed goal to "expose the fakes." Rolling Stone Australia editor in chief Neil Griffiths told CBC News he's found the Velvet Sundown experiment both "fascinating" and "terrifying" and says the new website will be a hub for conversations and investigations about AI and art. Spotify has not responded to CBC News's requests for comment. Boucher wants people to be vigilant Boucher's X account, which he initially claimed was run by the band, turned to absurd farewell messages mid week, including AI-generated images of the band members walking into Narnia, being abducted by a UFO and going to heaven. He also posted a collection of public domain Velvet Sundown T-shirt designs, playing on one of the biggest questions raised by the spectacle: who has the rights to a band that no one will claim ownership of? LISTEN | An expert speaks on AI and thinking: Many have suspected he's behind the band after all, a theory Boucher played into with a satirical blog post before going public with his real name in a lengthy blog post entitled The True Confessions of Andrew Frelon. He maintains he has nothing to do with the Velvet Sundown and has been working to crack the case himself. In the meantime, Boucher says he hopes the experiment encourages people to be more vigilant about verifying things they see — and people they encounter — online. "I want people to be encouraged and to learn on their own, to share and to have those conversations," he said. "In a way, it's too bad that sometimes the best way to make those conversations is to trick people in the wild. But I think if you can do that, and then you can expose the trick, there can be a lot of value in that."
Yahoo
25-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Quebec man who pulled off AI band hoax reveals his identity
The Quebec man who pranked journalists and music fans by saying he was behind a wildly successful AI band has revealed his identity as web platform safety and policy issues expert Tim Boucher. Speaking on video from his workspace in a rural area outside Quebec City, Boucher told CBC News Wednesday that the reality-blurring prank was partly motivated by revenge for the five years he worked as a content moderator. "When you're the one that has to deal with all the fighting and the fakery and just all of the garbage that humans can come up with, it changes how you look at the world," he said. Last month, Boucher claimed he created the Velvet Sundown, a '70s-inspired "band" that had about 300,000 monthly listeners at the time and was drawing attention for appearing to use AI. He set up an X account purporting to represent the band and fielded media requests. Using the pseudonym Andrew Frelon — frelon being the French word for hornet — he first said the band was made up of real humans, then "admitted" it was AI, then said he had nothing to do with it at all. The Velvet Sundown now has nearly 1.5 million monthly listeners and its creator remains a mystery. "I want to be able to show people a bit of what that's like — this feeling of having to determine what's real, and having to determine is this right or is this wrong, or having to make all these really weird decisions that for some reason are your problem, or your responsibility," Boucher told CBC News. Boucher has previously been in the news for publishing novels using AI and proposing an AI bill of rights. He also has a history of public pranks, having helped create a fake company and a fake art movement. He insisted on using a pseudonym when he spoke to CBC News three weeks ago, in part because he says he was bombarded with messages from people telling him to kill himself over the Velvet Sundown experiment. He says those messages have tapered off significantly. He says he also hopes to deepen the "convoluted" conversation that has come out of his experiment. "I realized that there's a limit of the depth that we can go to if I'm not willing to expose myself, too, and to be vulnerable," he said. The truth is out there The experiment has sparked conversations about the impact of AI and artificial streaming on music platforms, while spawning a miniature industry around the mysterious band. Countless AI artists with identical or similar names to the Velvet Sundown have popped up on Spotify. On YouTube, people have made videos using band's songs, dissecting the controversy, creating similar AI bands and, in one case, making an eerily realistic fake documentary. At times, it's difficult to parse who is involved with the original Velvet Sundown, who is trying to capitalize on its success and who is simply toying with the absurdity of it all. The Velvet Sundown's official social media accounts have remained quiet, and have not responded to CBC News's requests for comment. Two men behind one of whom says he's Canadian and lives part-time in Vancouver, told CBC News they are part of a network of people behind the Velvet Sundown, but declined to answer specific questions about the operation. The site is selling Velvet Sundown-branded merchandise but is not linked to the band's official Spotify or social media accounts. Meanwhile Vinyl Group, which owns Rolling Stone Australia and other music outlets, bought as a condemnation of AI trickery, with an expressed goal to "expose the fakes." Rolling Stone Australia editor in chief Neil Griffiths told CBC News he's found the Velvet Sundown experiment both "fascinating" and "terrifying" and says the new website will be a hub for conversations and investigations about AI and art. Spotify has not responded to CBC News's requests for comment. Boucher wants people to be vigilant Boucher's X account, which he initially claimed was run by the band, turned to absurd farewell messages mid week, including AI-generated images of the band members walking into Narnia, being abducted by a UFO and going to heaven. He also posted a collection of public domain Velvet Sundown T-shirt designs, playing on one of the biggest questions raised by the spectacle: who has the rights to a band that no one will claim ownership of? LISTEN | An expert speaks on AI and thinking: Many have suspected he's behind the band after all, a theory Boucher played into with a satirical blog post before going public with his real name in a lengthy blog post entitled The True Confessions of Andrew Frelon. He maintains he has nothing to do with the Velvet Sundown and has been working to crack the case himself. In the meantime, Boucher says he hopes the experiment encourages people to be more vigilant about verifying things they see — and people they encounter — online. "I want people to be encouraged and to learn on their own, to share and to have those conversations," he said. "In a way, it's too bad that sometimes the best way to make those conversations is to trick people in the wild. But I think if you can do that, and then you can expose the trick, there can be a lot of value in that."
CBC
25-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Quebec man who pulled off AI band hoax reveals his identity
The Quebec man who pranked journalists and music fans by saying he was behind a wildly successful AI band has revealed his identity as web platform safety and policy issues expert Tim Boucher. Speaking on video from his workspace in a rural area outside Quebec City, Boucher told CBC News Wednesday that the reality-blurring prank was partly motivated by revenge for the five years he worked as a content moderator. "When you're the one that has to deal with all the fighting and the fakery and just all of the garbage that humans can come up with, it changes how you look at the world," he said. Last month, Boucher claimed he created the Velvet Sundown, a '70s-inspired "band" that had about 300,000 monthly listeners at the time and was drawing attention for appearing to use AI. He set up an X account purporting to represent the band and fielded media requests. Using the pseudonym Andrew Frelon — frelon being the French word for hornet — he first said the band was made up of real humans, then "admitted" it was AI, then said he had nothing to do with it at all. The Velvet Sundown now has nearly 1.5 million monthly listeners and its creator remains a mystery. "I want to be able to show people a bit of what that's like — this feeling of having to determine what's real, and having to determine is this right or is this wrong, or having to make all these really weird decisions that for some reason are your problem, or your responsibility," Boucher told CBC News. Boucher has previously been in the news for publishing novels using AI and proposing an AI bill of rights. He also has a history of public pranks, having helped create a fake company and a fake art movement. He insisted on using a pseudonym when he spoke to CBC News three weeks ago, in part because he says he was bombarded with messages from people telling him to kill himself over the Velvet Sundown experiment. He says those messages have tapered off significantly. He says he also hopes to deepen the "convoluted" conversation that has come out of his experiment. "I realized that there's a limit of the depth that we can go to if I'm not willing to expose myself, too, and to be vulnerable," he said. The truth is out there The experiment has sparked conversations about the impact of AI and artificial streaming on music platforms, while spawning a miniature industry around the mysterious band. Countless AI artists with identical or similar names to the Velvet Sundown have popped up on Spotify. On YouTube, people have made videos using band's songs, dissecting the controversy, creating similar AI bands and, in one case, making an eerily realistic fake documentary. At times, it's difficult to parse who is involved with the original Velvet Sundown, who is trying to capitalize on its success and who is simply toying with the absurdity of it all. The Velvet Sundown's official social media accounts have remained quiet, and have not responded to CBC News's requests for comment. Two men behind one of whom says he's Canadian and lives part-time in Vancouver, told CBC News they are part of a network of people behind the Velvet Sundown, but declined to answer specific questions about the operation. The site is selling Velvet Sundown-branded merchandise but is not linked to the band's official Spotify or social media accounts. Meanwhile Vinyl Group, which owns Rolling Stone Australia and other music outlets, bought as a condemnation of AI trickery, with an expressed goal to "expose the fakes." Rolling Stone Australia editor in chief Neil Griffiths told CBC News he's found the Velvet Sundown experiment both "fascinating" and "terrifying" and says the new website will be a hub for conversations and investigations about AI and art. Spotify has not responded to CBC News's requests for comment. Boucher wants people to be vigilant Boucher's X account, which he initially claimed was run by the band, turned to absurd farewell messages mid week, including AI-generated images of the band members walking into Narnia, being abducted by a UFO and going to heaven. He also posted a collection of public domain Velvet Sundown T-shirt designs, playing on one of the biggest questions raised by the spectacle: who has the rights to a band that no one will claim ownership of? Many have suspected he's behind the band after all, a theory Boucher played into with a satirical blog post before going public with his real name in a lengthy blog post entitled The True Confessions of Andrew Frelon. He maintains he has nothing to do with the Velvet Sundown and has been working to crack the case himself. In the meantime, Boucher says he hopes the experiment encourages people to be more vigilant about verifying things they see — and people they encounter — online. "I want people to be encouraged and to learn on their own, to share and to have those conversations," he said. "In a way, it's too bad that sometimes the best way to make those conversations is to trick people in the wild. But I think if you can do that, and then you can expose the trick, there can be a lot of value in that."
CBS News
05-06-2025
- General
- CBS News
Silverthorne Fire Station for Summit Fire and EMS officially opens for growing Colorado community
After years in the making, Summit Fire & EMS has officially opened its newest fire station, bringing critical emergency services closer to the growing Colorado neighborhoods north of Silverthorne. This strategic new location will provide faster response times for neighbors previously relying on the Dillon station as their closest option. That closer location also has potential insurance savings for residents, as well as addressing long-standing concerns about traffic congestion and emergency access. CBS "Having this here eliminates a good mile of that traffic," explains Silverthorne resident Tim Boucher. "So it's really going to help a lot having the vehicles here, having the EMS here, you know, the medical, because there's so many homes around here that really need the medical." The new station, though starting with a small crew, is designed for immediate impact. "Right now, what we're running out of here is a two-person medic unit crew based off of one firefighter, paramedic, one firefighter/EMT," says Battalion Chief Ryan Cole of B Shift for Summit Fire and EMS. "They're still all hazards; they can still respond to any type of call that we would go to." While currently operating with a two-person crew, these highly trained individuals can operate a full fire engine, an ambulance, or a wildland truck -- a crucial asset in the high country. This nimble staffing ensures that even with a smaller initial footprint, the new station can respond effectively to a range of emergencies. Chief Cole notes that while the current call volume doesn't necessitate a full six-person crew, "it is growing that way." The "ribbon cutting" for the new Summit Fire and EMS station featured a fire hose instead of a ribbon. CBS Summit Fire and EMS has said the emphasis on speed and efficiency is intended to bring some peace of mind for the northern Silverthorne neighbors. "From the time the tones drop to the time the wheels are turning, we're looking for a 90 second turnout time," Chief Cole said. "It's being able to get there quickly for the people who are calling for what they're needing, whether that is simply a smoke detector set off by cooking or an actual medical emergency, we want to get there in a timely manner and provide the care that the people are expecting." For residents, they tell CBS Colorado the peace of mind is immeasurable. "Seconds away is a feel good for us older people because you never know what could happen," says Tim Boucher. "And having them here, having these vehicles here, the EMS here is wonderful. It's a big help." CBS Beyond immediate emergency response, the new station also offers a significant financial benefit: potentially lower insurance premiums. With quicker access to emergency services, residents north of Silverthorne can now demonstrate a reduced risk, which should have a positive impact on their insurance costs. This was one of the key factors residents advocated for in accelerating the station's development. As the neighborhoods continue to grow, Summit Fire & EMS anticipates expanding its crews to meet the increasing demand, ensuring the community remains safe and well-protected for years to come.
