Artificial intelligence always seems to move faster than music. But some artists are quick to take the lead, like singer FKA Twigs, who created her own AI-generated avatar to interact with her fans. “Some specialists believe that deep fakes is the future of pop and a great way to build fan loyalty. And the music industry is rubbing its hands,” notes, mostly skeptically, James Hall in the columns of the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.
The British pop star defended before the US Senate on April 30 the artistic ownership of his AI-generated double to protect against possible illegal reproductions made by Internet users who could. “illegally appropriate my identity and my copyright…and rewrite the thread of my own existence as they please”, says the journalist.
Called “AI Twigs”, this double intended to manage her social networks and her interactions with her fans was created from the analysis of videos and images of the star posted online and can accurately recreate her voice to speak several languages, including French, Korean and Japanese.
A very profitable adventure
Alarmed, James Hall judges that“It already feels like we’re in a JG Ballard dystopia”the famous British science fiction author. However, it is clear that AI is already well established in the industry. And the biggest British rockers take it up with enthusiasm, like the ex-Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr, who with his friends was able to reuse John Lennon’s voice from an old recording to create the group’s final song, Sometimesreleased in November 2023.
But, for the journalist, this frenzy for AI does not bode well, because it would above all be about an increasingly profitable intention of labels, according to the model of the K-pop industry, where avatars and holograms are already common.
“To reach the hearts of fans and their wallets, there are derivative products, but the other way to monetize the most loyal fans is technology”hence the growth of online chat rooms with stars, as in the Discord platform, he judges.
However, an answer is being created, assures Alex Connock, a specialist in AI and entertainment interviewed by the daily. The latter ensures that “The more artificial content we create, the more fans will demand a more vibrant and immersive experience.”