Fun vs. Fuckery: AI, Likeness and You
The issue of AI and artist likeness is becoming one of the hottest topics at the intersection of tech and music.
While the industry has responded with requisite concern to AI-driven copyright infringement and the inundation of DSPs by AI slop, likeness is trickier. We’re talking about not only unauthorized use of artists’ images, sounds and styles by fans but celebrity “identity theft” by bad actors.
Dan Neely of the tech company Vermillio has been working on this problem as assiduously as anyone. Neely helpfully distinguishes fan inventions from more nefarious uses as “fun vs. fuckery,” and TraceID, the tech under Vermillio’s hood, is applicable to both.
TraceID has enabled the compilation of the charts below, which demonstrate how much bigger unauthorized use of likeness is than unauthorized use of copyright. Those uses are not quantified here, but the number assigned to each entry on a chart is a multiple; “1” represents the average volume of online usage, and, as you’ll see, Dr. Dre sits at the top with 12.09 in activity—that is, more than 12 times the average.
At any given moment, likeness fun and fuckery can drive more traffic than an artist’s actual work.
Fun: The Quavo-Takeoff “hotel lobby” trend has been key to boosting Dre, whose music is interpolated in the track. The dire political climate has driven the “This Is America” trend for Childish Gambino. David Guetta’s intense stare, captured during a 2014 set, became an enduring meme under the tag “Concentration mode: ON.” A Star Wars-themed rap parody apes the style of Juice WRLD.
Sometimes the creation is an act of pure fan devotion. When Mick Fleetwood announced that Fleetwood Mac would be working on its last song, fans took to Suno’s new, licensing-friendly v6 iteration to create their own versions of what that song might be. Guns N’ Roses admirers have created their own speculative GNR album projects, and rap devotees have guessed at what unreleased Playboi Carti music could sound like.
Fuckery: AI reggaeton creations have used Daddy Yankee tags to drive traffic to Latin-music deepfakes. Also distressing is an AI character who looks and sounds quite a bit like Bad Bunny and who’s turned out a lot of dreadful musical slop.
This stuff is being generated at a dizzying pace. In 2019 there were about 18,000 AI creations; this year, there are about 1 trillion.
This stuff is being generated at a dizzying pace. In 2019 there were about 18,000 AI creations; this year, there are about 1 trillion. Now, imagine if those creations could be tracked, policed and monetized at the same pace. In other words, tech that encourages the fun—while growing revenue—and shuts down the fuckery.
Where is all this headed?
The goal is AI that learns the preferences of artists and their teams so it can automate the permissions process throughout the Internet. But the opportunity to build and profit from that infrastructure cannot be infinite: Have fun out there—but mind the fuckery.
