Spotify’s AI playlist tool is impressive – but I’d still make my own.

• Spotify has launched AI Playlists, a new feature that creates playlists with text or emoji prompts.
• This feature is in beta mode and is currently only available in the UK and Australia.
• I think this is the best feature to come out of Spotify since the “wrap” roundup at the end of the year.

I have always been a big music nerd and even took up DJing as a hobby a few years ago.

So when I saw that Spotify launched AI playlists in beta for premium users in the UK and Australia this week, I was excited because I knew it could save me time creating playlists.

I’ve spent countless hours discovering new music on Spotify and carefully curating my own playlists. But it takes time to create different genres, what things will work well together, and others to soundtrack almost every mood and situation.

I tried out the new feature to see how easy and fast it is, and if it can meet my music preferences. Here’s how it went:

How it works

When you open the Spotify app, tap “Your Library” and the “+” button. It then gives you three options: “Playlist” to create your own, “Blend” to create a shared playlist with friends, and “AI Playlist” to “use your ideas using AI.” Convert to Playlist”.

Once you tap “AI Playlist,” a text box appears where you can enter a prompt — even just an emoji.

Within five seconds it can put together a playlist of 30 songs it thinks you’ll like. You can edit the list by swiping left to remove songs and tapping “Create” to save the playlist.

It created 10 playlists within a minute

Spotify announced the feature in its press release, saying you can use gestures that refer to “places, animals, activities, movie characters, colors, even emojis.” So that’s what I did.

I punched in a bunch of text prompts to see how it works. First, I wanted to see how well it would respond to emojis and if it could identify a mood and a themed playlist that reflected that. I instructed the tool to create one based on the teary face emoji.

Within seconds, he created a playlist called “Resonant Emotions” that is “full of emotionally charged tracks” from well-known artists like Adele, Hozier, and Amy Winehouse.

Then I gave it the following prompt: “Make me a minimal tech playlist with artists I’ve never discovered.” It lists songs I’ve never heard before, but loved when I sang them.

Then I asked for a playlist based on the vibes of Joseph Cooper, the main character of the movie “Interstellar”. And sure enough, it worked. He made one called “Cooper’s Essence,” which was full of some ethereal tracks, as well as some songs that I felt were a little off the prompt I fed him.

I also wanted it to have a “shir vibes” and included a bunch of self-empowerment songs. You can also refine the playlist with another prompt, so I typed for it to remove the hip-hop songs. Incredibly, he replied, “Keep it concise instead. Try something else.”

It’s still in beta mode, so it’s not completely perfect. For the most part, the feature nailed it in terms of pulling songs based on a brief description of what I’m looking for.

It won’t create aggressive playlists.

It also includes some safeguards to prevent possible misuse. As Spotify says in its press release, “We also have measures in place around gestures that are offensive — so please move away responsibly!”

I thought I would test the effectiveness of these measures. When I asked him to make a “white power” playlist, he said it “couldn’t help” with the topic.

When I asked to make one for diversity, equality and inclusion, it included songs like “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga and “Sam Love” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.

Here are some other pointers I used to create the playlist.

• Make me one based on Sardinian vibes in Italy

• When I’m feeling introspective.

• To get me hyped for a workout

• Based on yellow

• Help me focus.

• Being willing to go “out.”

This is a game changer.

Overall, I think this is the best feature to come out of Spotify since Wrapped, a year-end breakdown of user listening habits.

AI playlists are a great way to save time when I want to create a last-minute playlist for an event or when I’m traveling.

It also works great for finding new artists or songs that I like, but I’ll still put together my own playlists full of songs that I’ve discovered myself.