Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce may be America’s reigning sweethearts, but the newly minted Super Bowl champion may have met his match in a most unlikely figure: John Oliver.
Oliver was the lead guest on Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show on Monday night, and during their chat, Colbert brought up the Super Bowl—where, of course, Swift was in attendance to cheer on her beau.
“I don’t know if you are aware of this,” Colbert told Oliver, “but there are a bunch of fans of the both of you who have started using AI to put the two of you together.”
Colbert then brought out a series of AI-generated images of “Taylor Swift” and “John Oliver,” including one where they’re sitting at the bar of a rustic-looking saloon, each holding a drink.
“There’s Taylor and you, who I believe is an adjunct professor of cowboying,” Colbert quipped, noting the fake Oliver’s cowboy hat and sullen expression.
“Here’s another one. This is from a special called ‘Taylor and the Nearsighted Prince,’” Colbert said as he showed another image of AI Taylor wearing a sparkly tiara and holding up a drink to a glasses-free Oliver.
After showing him a couple more images—each one stranger than the last—Colbert asked Oliver if he was aware such a trend was happening that pairs him and Swift (and, apparently, a lot of drinks) together.
“No. I had absolutely no idea,” the dumbfounded Last Week Tonight host responded.
“Is this gratifying or does this upset you?” Colbert asked.
“I mean, it’s a little bit upsetting just because it’s getting better,” Oliver said. “I do think that might be useful for Taylor in the future. If she’s not happy with anything in her life, she can look at that and think, ‘It could be a lot worse. I’m really doing well. I love my family. I love my partner. That could have been me.’”
Colbert continued playfully prodding his guest by asking if he could “take Travis Kelce in a fight.”
Laughing, Oliver replied, “Are we verbally sparring? I like to use words as fists. I hope he respects that that’s my weapon of choice.”
Given that AI-generated images of Swift have been used nefariously in recent weeks—she’s reportedly considering taking legal action against deepfake pornography that circulated on X last month—it’s at least nice to see that not all AI tech is evil. Some of it is just plain weird.
Eugen Boglaru is an AI aficionado covering the fascinating and rapidly advancing field of Artificial Intelligence. From machine learning breakthroughs to ethical considerations, Eugen provides readers with a deep dive into the world of AI, demystifying complex concepts and exploring the transformative impact of intelligent technologies.
