FKA twigs has filed a written testimony on artificial intelligence to a U.S. Senate subcommittee, revealing that she is developing her own deepfake. She will testify on Capitol Hill today, Rolling Stone reports. The letter, viewed by Pitchfork, advocates for AI as a creative and commercial tool, as long as artists consent and retain control over their representations.
In her written testimony, FKA twigs writes, “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.”
She also says her own deepfake has been in development for a year and is “not only trained in [her] personality but also can use [her] exact tone of voice to speak many languages.” She adds, “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.”
The letter continues, “Our careers and livelihoods are in jeopardy, and so potentially are the wider image-related rights of others in society. You have the power to change this and safeguard the future.
“As artists and, more importantly, human beings, we are a facet of our given, learned, and developed identity. Our creativity is the product of this lived experience overlaid with years of dedication to qualification, training, hard work and, dare I say it, significant financial investment and sacrifice. That the very essence of our being at its most human level can be violated by the unscrupulous use of AI to create a digital facsimile that purports to be us, and our work, is inherently wrong. It is therefore vital that as an industry and as legislators we work together to ensure we do all we can to protect our creative and intellectual rights as well as the very basis of who we are.”
The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property is discussing the NO FAKES (Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe) Act, a bipartisan bill that, if passed, would hold deepfake creators liable in civil claims by the artist.
