Meta has released a new advertisement promoting optimism about artificial intelligence, set to David Bowie’s 1972 song “Five Years”—a track explicitly about humanity’s impending extinction. The campaign, which debuted this week, juxtaposes uplifting imagery of human connection with lyrics describing global panic over an apocalyptic deadline, raising questions about the coherence of Silicon Valley’s messaging on AI’s societal impact.
The Ad’s Contradictory Musical Choice
The 60-second spot opens with a black-and-white sequence of a person reading alarming headlines about AI’s risks, before shifting to vibrant scenes of people dancing, swimming, and embracing. A voiceover declares, “Some people will have you believe AI is going to make us feel less connected. That it’s going to leave us behind. We couldn’t disagree more.” The soundtrack, however, undercuts this message: “Five Years” details a world learning it has only half a decade before annihilation, with lyrics including “We had five years left to cry in” and “Earth was really dying.”
Meta’s selection of the song appears to hinge on a single repeated word—“people”—while ignoring the broader narrative. The company’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, accompanied the ad’s release with a statement asserting, “Meta has always believed in giving people the power to share, connect, and shape your world in the ways you want.” Yet the musical backdrop, which Bowie described as a “sci-fi apocalypse,” has prompted scrutiny from critics and industry observers alike.
Tech’s Pattern of Tone-Deaf Messaging
Meta is not alone in its promotional missteps. Anthropic, a rival AI firm, recently released an advertisement featuring imagery of burning houses, facial recognition surveillance, and mass graves, paired with a voiceover questioning AI’s trustworthiness. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman dismissed the ad as “satire,” though its tone mirrored the existential dread of Bowie’s track. These campaigns reflect a broader disconnect between Silicon Valley’s rhetoric and public sentiment: a Pew Research survey conducted this year found only 16% of Americans believe AI will have a positive societal impact over the next two decades, while 40% anticipate negative consequences.
Industry leaders’ literary references have also drawn criticism. Meta’s Oculus previously distributed copies of Ernest Cline’s *Ready Player One*—a novel set in a dystopia dominated by a monopolistic VR corporation—to new employees. Palantir, which develops AI surveillance tools for governments, takes its name from J.R.R. Tolkien’s all-seeing stones used for espionage. Such choices underscore a recurring tension between tech’s self-image and the cultural narratives it invokes.
What Comes Next for AI’s Public Image
As competition intensifies among AI developers, their advertising strategies are likely to grow more aggressive in shaping public perception. Meta’s ad, despite its tonal dissonance, signals a push to frame AI as a force for human empowerment rather than disruption. Observers will be watching whether future campaigns adopt clearer messaging—or whether the industry’s reliance on dramatic, if unintentionally ominous, symbolism will persist. For now, the debate over AI’s role in society remains as polarized as the imagery in Meta’s latest production.
