The singer/actress criticizes the use of unauthorized AI deepfakes and voice clones while testifying during a hearing regarding artificial intelligence and intellectual property.
- Feb 3, 2024
AceShowbiz - Lainey Wilson made it clear that she's against AI (Artificial Intelligence) when testifying during a hearing regarding artificial intelligence and intellectual property on Friday, February 2. In front of congress, the singer/actress blasted the the use of unauthorized AI deepfakes and voice clones.
Wilson stressed at a Los Angeles field hearing of a House Judiciary subcommittee that "we need to keep humanity in art. We cannot lose that." She added, "My art is uniquely and literally me, my name, my likeness, my voice."
The "Yellowstone" star went on to point out, "I do not have to tell you how much of a gut punch it is to have your likeness or your voice ripped from you and used in ways that you could never imagine or would never allow. It is wrong, plain and simple."
"There aren't many things that we can control in life, but making decisions about the use of our own selves, our own unique qualities, that should be one," she noted. "I am excited about a lot of ways that artificial intelligence can be used to help people, but I'm nervous about how it can be used to take personal rights."
Wilson later shared that she's a "victim" of AI herself as her likeness has been used to promote weight-loss gummies without her consent. "I've got a lot of little kids watching me, a lot of little girls and a lot of little boys. And I want to encourage them to feel comfortable in their own skin and love themselves," she told the committee.
"And I would never in a million years ever do anything like that," she added. "But at the end of the day, you know, people are like, 'I got to see it to believe it.' Well, they're seeing it, and they're believing it."
"Some creators are okay with AI platforms using their voices and likenesses, and some are not. The important thing is that it should be their choice and not a choice that an AI cloning company gets to make for them," Wilson explained. "AI-generated music and video using an artist's unique identity to perform in questionable settings or to sing lyrics that they would never write or express that does not truly reflect who they are is unacceptable."
"It is a personal violation that threatens a person's dignity and can put at risk everything that they have worked so hard to accomplish," the 31-year-old singer-songwriter, who is nominated for best country album and best country duo/group performance for her collaboration with Jelly Roll at the upcoming 2024 Grammys, went on divulging. "An artist's voice and likeness are their property and should not take a backseat to the economic interest of companies that have not invested in or partnered with the artist."
