TL;DR

Czech ice dancing siblings Kateřina Mrázková and Daniel Mrázek used AI-generated music during their Olympic rhythm dance routine. While no official rules were broken, the choice has drawn attention to questions about creativity, copyright, and the growing role of generative AI in the arts.

AI on Olympic ice

The pair’s rhythm dance programme — themed around the music and styles of the 1990s — featured a combination of AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” and an AI-generated track described as ”90s style Bon Jovi.” Other competitors chose licensed music from real artists: British duo Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson paid tribute to the Spice Girls, while US favourites Madison Chock and Evan Bates skated to a Lenny Kravitz medley.

This is not the duo’s first encounter with AI-generated music controversy. Earlier in the season, they used an AI track whose lyrics matched almost word-for-word those of “You Get What You Give” by New Radicals. The AI-generated song was even titled “One Two” — the opening words of the original track.

After facing backlash, the pair swapped the track before the Olympics for one with lyrics that closely resemble Bon Jovi’s “Raise Your Hands.” The AI vocalist reportedly sounds like Bon Jovi as well. The International Skating Union has no rules prohibiting AI-generated music, but the situation highlights how generative models trained on existing catalogues can reproduce recognisable elements from copyrighted works.

The broader music industry is still grappling with these boundaries. In one recent example, a musician using Suno to set her poetry to AI-generated music secured a $3 million record deal.

Looking forward

The incident puts a spotlight on a gap in sporting regulations. As AI-generated content becomes more common, governing bodies may need to consider whether — and how — to address its use in competitive settings where artistic expression is part of the scoring.

Share this article