In addition to working on the follow-up to 2022's great CAPRISONGS, FKA twigs is set to star opposite Bill Skarsgård in the Rupert Sanders-directed The Crow remake. She's very busy, so she's apparently been developing a deepfake version of herself to keep up with social media interactions with fans.
twigs will be speaking more about that project in front of a US Senate subcommittee today as she testifies on behalf of AI regulation. As Rolling Stone reports, she'll be on Capitol Hill in front of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, explaining her efforts to develop a deepfake version of herself.
"In the past year, I have developed my own deepfake version of myself that is not only trained in my personality but also can use my exact tone of voice to speak many languages," reads the written statement the artist will deliver [via MusicAlly]. According to twigs, this technology will "extend my reach and handle my online social media interactions whilst I continue to focus on my art from the comfort and solace of my studio."
While her testimony paints AI as a helpful tool for artists, she also cautions that it can only be so if it's under their direct control. The subcommittee is considering passing the NO FAKES Act, which will protect musicians and actors against unauthorized AI renderings of their likeness, including their voices — similar to the ELVIS Act that state government in Tennessee adopted last month.
Read the statement twigs will deliver in full below.
I am here because my music, my dancing, my acting, the way that my body moves in front of a camera, and the way that my voice resonates through a microphone is not by chance; they are essential reflections of who I am.
My art is the canvas on which I paint my identity and the sustaining foundation of my livelihood. It is the essence of my being. Yet this is under threat.
AI cannot replicate the depth of my life journey, yet those who control it hold the power to mimic the likeness of my art, to replicate it and falsely claim my identity and intellectual property.
This prospect threatens to rewrite and unravel the fabric of my very existence. We must enact regulation now to safeguard our authenticity and protect against misappropriation of our inalienable rights…
In the past year, I have developed my own deepfake version of myself that is not only trained in my personality but also can use my exact tone of voice to speak many languages.
I will be engaging my AI twigs later this year to extend my reach and handle my online social media interactions, whilst I continue to focus on my art from the comfort and solace of my studio.
These and similar emerging technologies are highly valuable tools both artistically and commercially when under the control of the artist.
What is not acceptable is when my art and my identity can simply be taken by a third party and exploited falsely for their own gain without my consent due to the absence of appropriate legislative control.