The Rolling Stones experimented with artificial intelligence (AI) in an attempt to generate album titles for their 2023 release, Hackney Diamonds, but ultimately found the results unsatisfactory, according to lead singer Mick Jagger. Speaking about the experience, Jagger, 82, said the technology produced ideas that the band did not find useful, leading them to discard the AI-generated suggestions.

Jagger explained that the group turned to AI during a period when they were struggling to agree on a title for Hackney Diamonds. He inputted a list of potential album names into the system and requested additional ideas, but the responses "came back with such rubbish" that they did not aid the creative process. The final title was developed independently and was not influenced by the AI output.

Looking ahead, the band’s new album, Foreign Tongues, is set for release on Friday. The title derives from a lyric in one of the band’s new blues tracks, moving away from AI assistance to a more traditional source of inspiration.

While the Stones found AI unhelpful for naming purposes, they have employed technology in other ways. Jagger noted that he, along with guitarist Keith Richards, 82, and Ronnie Wood, 79, used digital effects to de-age themselves in the music video for their latest single, In The Stars.

Jagger also highlighted the creative tools he continues to rely on, citing a rhyming dictionary as an occasional aid in songwriting. He recalled receiving his first rhyming dictionary from Lionel Bart, the composer behind the 1960s musical Oliver!, emphasizing that such tools are only useful when a writer is stuck, as the best creative ideas come from the artist’s own imagination.

“Songwriting is like that,” Jagger said, underscoring the balance between external aids and personal creativity in the band’s enduring career.