FKA Twigs Developed Her Own Deepfake
FKA Twigs is developing a deepfake AI version of herself to engage with her fans, the singer revealed on Tuesday.
The musician is set to testify on Capitol Hill later today to encourage heightened regulation of the technology. The artist cited AI as a potentially helpful tool for recording artists to handle marketing and help streamline creative processes, but only when done with their consent and control.
“In the past year, I have developed my own deepfake version of myself that is not only trained in my personality but also can use my exact tone of voice to speak many languages,” Twigs said in her written testimony published Tuesday morning. “I will be engaging my AI rwigs later this year to extend my reach and handle my online social media interactions, whilst I continue to focus on my art from the comfort and solace of my studio,” Twigs wrote. “These and similar emerging technologies are highly valuable tools both artistically and commercially when under the control of the artist.”
The “AI twigs” deepfake is the standout discussion point in a testimony the British singer will give to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property regarding the NO FAKES Act, which seeks to establish protections for actors and recording artists from unauthorized use of name, image and likeness for AI. Twigs also advocated extensively for proper regulation on artificial intelligence and warned of the repercussions for artists and creatives if legislators don’t act swiftly.
“Our careers and livelihoods are in jeopardy, and so potentially are the wider image-related rights of others in society. You have the power to change this and safeguard the future,” FKA Twigs wrote. “That the very essence of our being at its most human level can be violated by the unscrupulous use of AI to create a digital facsimile that purports to be us, and our work, is inherently wrong. It is therefore vital that as an industry and as legislators we work together to ensure we do all we can to protect our creative and intellectual rights as well as the very basis of who we are.”
In addition to FKA Twigs, Robert Kyncl, the CEO of Warner Music Group who releases music by FKA Twigs, also submitted testimony on Tuesday. The musician and Kycl, as well as reps from the Motion Picture Association and SAG-AFTRA, will speak before the hearing later this afternoon, and their testimonies will be streamed live on the committee’s website.
In his testimony, Kyncl implored the lawmakers to introduce a bill containing three statutes: an enforceable intellectual property right for likeness and voice, respect for important First Amendment principles, and deterrence measures that would discourage unethical AI use.
“Across the industry, legends from Roberta Flack to the Beatles have embraced AI as a tool to enhance their creativity. At the same time, generative AI is appropriating artists’ identities and producing deep fakes that depict people doing, saying, or singing things that never happened,” Kyncl wrote.
“Congress should pass legislation this year before the genie is out of the bottle while we still have a chance to get this right,” he continued.
AI has been among the most pressing topics across music and entertainment over the past several years as creators and executives have looked to secure intellectual property while also figuring out how to incorporate the technology into the business. Unauthorized uses of artists’ voices and recordings to train models and create AI-generated music has riled the industry, most notably last year when the anonymous songwriter Ghostwriter went viral for his song “Heart on My Sleeve,” which featured AI vocals of Drake and the Weeknd.
Drake made waves himself last week as he became perhaps the most famous artist to incorporate AI vocals on one of his songs, utilizing an AI-generated voice clone of Tupac on “Taylor Made Freestyle.” Tupac’s estate sent the rapper a cease and desist, calling the usage “a flagrant violation of Tupac’s publicity and the estate’s legal rights.”