FKA Twigs is set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property on Tuesday afternoon (April 30) to warn members of Congress about the dangers of unauthorized use of artificial intelligence to imitate an artist's unique style and delivery .
The singer/dancer will also reveal that she has been developing a deepfake of herself over the past year in an effort to explore the use of artificial intelligence to help with marketing and streamlining the creative process, as well as prevent anyone else from knocking her off AI. punch.
“As a future-facing artist, new technologies are an exciting tool to use to express yourself
deeper emotions, create fantasy worlds and touch the hearts of many people,” he will tell the panel, which will also hear from Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl. Her appearance in DC supports the Senate's bipartisan Nurture Originals, Foster Art and Keep Entertainment Safe (“NO FAKES Act”), which aims to protect Americans from non-consensual AI-generated deepfakes and create federal rules for protecting a person's voice and image from being used in harmful AI-generated content;
Her testimony — provided in Advertising sign before her performance — will open with the 36-year-old artist describing a life immersed in the arts, including ballet, singing and acting lessons sacrificed by her dancer mother and dance company director stepfather. “From the age of 16, I began to explore both dance and music as a career, and this multidisciplinary interest has defined my life over the past two decades both personally and professionally,” she will tell the panel. .
The Grammy-nominated singer and recent soloist with the acclaimed Martha Graham Dance Company — and co-stars in an upcoming adaptation of The Raven — will tell the panel that she wanted to testify because “my music, my dancing, my acting, the way my body moves in front of a camera and the way my voice resonates through a microphone is no accident. they are essential reflections of who I am. My art is the canvas on which I paint my identity and the supporting foundation of my livelihood. It is the essence of my being.”
All of this, however, is under threat, he testifies, noting that while the AI cannot duplicate the depth of its journey, “those who control it have the power to imitate the likeness of my art, reproduce it and falsely claim their own my identity and intellectual property. This prospect threatens to rewrite and unravel the fabric of my very being. We must enact regulations now to preserve our authenticity and protect against the abuse of our inalienable rights.”
At a time when AI bootleg songs claiming to feature the voices of big stars like The Weeknd are on the rise — including Drake AI freestyle diss track “Taylor Made” featuring the computer-removed vocals of Snoop Dogg and the late Tupac Shakur. a threat of a lawsuit from Shakur's estate — Twigs says the Internet's forefathers couldn't have predicted three decades ago how integral, and sometimes dangerous, it would become to our lives.
“Artificial intelligence is the biggest leap in technological progress since the internet. You know the saying “Fool me once, shame on you…Fool me twice, shame on me,” he says. “If we make the same mistakes with the advent of AI, it will be 'shame on us.'
Having happily embraced technology throughout her career, Twigs will describe her bespoke deepfake, which she trained on her personality quirks and tuned to the precise tone of her voice to speak multiple languages. “I will be engaging my AI branches later this year to expand my reach and handle my online social media interactions while continuing to focus on my art from the comfort and solace of my studio,” he says.
“These and similar emerging technologies are extremely valuable tools both artistically and commercially when they are under the control of the artist,” he tells the panel. “What is not acceptable is when my art and my identity can simply be taken by a third party and falsely exploited for their own benefit without my consent, due to the absence of proper legislative control.”
Noting that history is littered with stories of artists being the first to tap into moments of great technological advancement, Twigs will caution that the “general and more vulnerable public” is often next. “By protecting artists with legislation at such an important time in our history, we are protecting a five-year-old child in the future from being taken and used as a commodity as a five-year-old child's commodity without prior consent, attribution or compensation.” she says.
Her submission includes a plea for the commission to help protect artists and their work from the dangers of artificial intelligence exploitation, speaking on behalf of fellow creators whose careers depend on the ability to create with the knowledge that they can maintain the “strict control” of them. art, image, voice and identity”.
“Our careers and livelihoods are at stake, and so the wider image rights of others in society are potentially at risk,” he says. “You have the power to change this and protect the future. As artists and, more importantly, people, we are an aspect of our given, learned and developed identity. Our creativity is the product of this lived experience overlaid with years of dedication to qualifications, education, hard work and, dare I say it, significant financial investment and sacrifice. That the very essence of our existence at the most human level can be violated by the unscrupulous use of artificial intelligence to create a digital facsimile of what we and our work are supposed to be is inherently wrong.”
The testimony will end with an urgent appeal, as well as a dire warning: “We have to do it right…you have to do it right,” he says. “Now… before it's too late.”
In January, a bipartisan group of US House lawmakers announced a bill aimed at regulating the use of artificial intelligence to clone voices and avatars, the No AI FRAUD Act, which could create a federal framework to protect voice and the likeness of the individual, while also providing First Amendment protection.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/business/legal/fka-twigs-made-deepfake-warn-senate-dangers-artificial-intelligence-1235669632/
