FKA Twigs reveals she has created an AI clone – but condemns unauthorised deepfakes

FKA Twigs has revealed she has created an AI version of herself to engage with fans and help with promotion.

The British singer-songwriter and dancer gave details of the project as she addressed a US Senate intellectual property hearing regarding the No Fakes Act, which aims to crack down on unauthorised replicas.

FKA Twigs, whose real name is Tahliah Debrett Barnett, confirmed she had been developing her own AI – but condemned unauthorised deepfakes, saying they leave her feeling “raw and vulnerable”.

The hearing was held in Washington on Tuesday, just hours before the release of a UK report which found that most of the public want regulation to prevent deepfakes of big-name artists such as Dua Lipa and Taylor Swift.

Speaking at the US hearing, FKA Twigs said she had been developing a digital clone of herself over the past year, revealing that it can speak multiple languages.

“I’ve done this to be able to reach more of my fans and to be able to speak to them in the nuance of their language,” she said. “I’ve currently explored French, Korean and Japanese, which is really exciting for me. It means that even with my upcoming album I can really explain in depth what it’s about creatively.”

The 36-year-old said having an AI version of herself also allows her to “spend more time making art”.

She continued: “Often being a music artist, or any artist in this day and age, requires a lot of press and a lot of promo, a lot of one-liners.

“So it means if it’s something simple that doesn’t really require my heart, I can do a one-liner and give it to people to promote a piece of work and, you know, it’s harmless but ultimately I can spend more time making something that’s really meaningful for my fans.”

‘I am a human being, and we have to protect that’

Addressing unauthorised deepfakes, she told the hearing about songs and collaborations with other artists that exist online, which she had nothing to do with.

“The fact that somebody could take my voice, change lyrics, change messaging, maybe work with an artist that I didn’t want to work with, or maybe work with an artist that I wanted to work with and now the surprise is ruined, it really leaves me very raw and very vulnerable,” she said.

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The star called for legislation to protect artists and added: “My spirit, my artist and my brand is my brand, and I’ve spent years developing it.

“And it’s mine, it doesn’t belong to anybody else to be used in a commercial sense, or cultural sense, or even just for a laugh. I am me, I am a human being, and we have to protect that.”

Unacknowledged AI music: Is it theft?

Meanwhile, a poll by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Music has found that 83% of UK adults agree that a music artist’s creative “personality” should be protected in law against AI copies.

The research involving more than 2,000 adults also found that 83% agree with the statement that if AI has been used to generate a song it must be clearly labelled, and 77% believe it amounts to theft when generated music fails to acknowledge the creator of the original.

APPG recommendations include the government introducing a UK AI Act, generated music being clearly labelled, the creation of a personality right to protect creators and artists from deepfakes, misappropriation and false endorsement, and setting up an international taskforce.

A government spokesperson said: “We are committed to helping artists and the creative industries work with the AI sector to harness the opportunities this technology provides, and ensure our music can continue to be enjoyed around the world.”

In April, more than 200 artists signed an open letter objecting to the “predatory” use of AI to “steal professional artists’ voices and likenesses”.