Turns out, Jeff Beck was lying to me. How did I miss the vital clue?

AI fakery made a fool of me but soon I’ll be too mad to notice.

October 10, 2026 — 5:57am

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I was listening to Jeff Beck on YouTube as he discussed and analysed the world’s best guitarists. His reaction on first hearing Hendrix, his thoughts on the thickness of Stevie Ray’s strings and the strength of his hands and the unique blue language they begot. The sad thing was Stevie Ray didn’t want to get on the helicopter, his friends urged him to fly that night, Beck said.

I was so absorbed in the great man’s take on the various virtuosos of the rock revolution it wasn’t until the video ended and I began to read the comment trail that I realised the whole thing was AI. Jeff Beck died in 2023. This video was recorded last year. Cannier cats than I had picked up the fakery, but if they hadn’t, I’d still believe these were the thoughts and words of Jeff Beck. It was his voice.

No big deal, I guess. But it might have been Xi Jinping, Anthony Albanese, Donald Trump, or the Pope. They’re all as replicable and malleable now as Wile E. Coyote and might be........

© The Age