The first AI-generated hit single has appeared, featuring AI synthesized versions of hip-hop/R&B artists Drake and The Weeknd. Universal Records panicked and called on their legal clout to have the song pulled off from streaming services. Heart on My Sleeve, utilizes the total AI replication of two famous artists’ voices, and it is frighteningly indistinguishable from the real thing. Universal wants to prevent these generative AI services from being able to access Universals libraries of artists and albums for the purpose of training the language models to mimic the voices of the famous personalities in their stable. The legal ramifications of these advances remain murkier than ever. Actors have begun to complain that film contracts are now asking for them to sign over their voices for future potential AI replication. AI-generated content will soon be here to stay. The scale of these disruptions, particularly at the spammy low-end hustle-and-scheme level, has already been eye-watering. In the near future, we can expect a veritable deluge of AI-spawned bastardizations of every conceivable pursuit and discipline a human being can call a livelihood. The bigger question will be whether these early AI pangs will turn into a legitimate revolutionary advancement for the human race, or rather devolve into AI becoming more of an inconvenient technological pest.
