AI technology within creative industries has grown into a serious issue in recent months. Many artists, be it actors, writers, and musicians fear that a future form of the technology will eventually keep them out of work, and so they have rallied for harsh regulations or to get rid of it altogether.
Recently, music legend Cher gave her own thoughts on the technology in an interview with AP News after listening to an AI-cover of a Madonna song using her voice.
“Someone did me singing a Madonna song and it was kind of shocking,” said Cher. “They didn’t have it down perfectly. But also, I’ve spent my entire life trying to be myself, and now these a—— are going to go take it? And they’ll do my acting and they’ll do my singing? And I mean, it’s just… it’s out of control.”
AI has become a focal point in the recent WGA and ongoing SAG-AFTRA strikes, which the singer is a part of.
“I’m telling you, if you work forever to become somebody — and I’m not talking about somebody in the famous, money part — but an artist, and then someone just takes it from you, it seems like it should be illegal,” she continued.
And while the technology is still at its infancy, malicious deep fakes using celebrities’ likeness are already popping up all over the internet. In early October, Tom Hanks put out a warning against an online dental ad that used his likeness on his Instagram.
Luckily, it seems that the music industry has started to take steps against this rapidly flourishing technology. Just this week the Universal Music Group, which represents massive music artists like Drake, The Weeknd, and Taylor Swift, filed a $75 million lawsuit against AI firm Anthropic for infringing on the copyrighted song lyrics of its artists.
