Published: 12:16 AM, 13 August 2026
Brian May says humanity does not need AI
Queen guitarist Sir Brian May says humanity does not need artificial intelligence (AI), while warning that the infrastructure being built to support the technology could come at a high cost to the UK.
The 79-year-old musician raised his concerns in an Instagram post after using Meta AI to recreate the cover of Queen's 1980 album The Game, The Independent reports.
May appeared unimpressed with the result and questioned whether AI represented the kind of intelligence that would eventually “rule the world”, the British newspaper said.
He said the example had prompted him to seriously consider whether humanity needed AI, arguing that the cost of its development could be too high.
“We must not allow these hideous data centres to be built in the UK. They will destroy our beautiful country, like they are already destroying beautiful America,” he wrote. Mqay also appeared to appeal to Prime Minister Andy Burnham to intervene, writing: “Dear Andy, you must stop it now, before it’s too late.”
His comments come as artists remain divided over the growing use of AI in the creative industries.
In May, 4 Non Blondes singer Linda Perry told the Press Association that artists should “embrace” AI while receiving the special international award at the 2026 Ivor Novello Awards.
Perry described AI as another tool that could make people's lives easier and compared its emergence with the arrival of microwave ovens.
She said AI represented the future and argued that artists should embrace it rather than try to avoid it.
Dance music producer Nia Archives, however, expressed a different view at the launch of the Mercury Prize in July.
She said she did not think AI music would last, describing it as potentially a “fleeting technology moment”.
May has had a long career with Queen, which produced six UK number one singles and 10 UK number one albums.
The band's best-known songs include “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Killer Queen”, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and “We Are The Champions”.
