Country music singer Lainey Wilson on Friday urged Congress to enact protections against artificial intelligence, and shared how AI fraud has impacted her.
“I do not have to tell you how much of a gut punch it is to have your name, your likeness, or your voice ripped from you and used in ways that you could never imagine or would never allow,” Wilson said. “It is wrong, plain and simple.”
Wilson testified at a House Judiciary field hearing in Los Angeles focused on the “growing concerns about the misuse of AI technology.”
“There aren't many things that we can control in life, but making decisions about the use of our own selves, our own unique qualities, that should be one,” Wilson continued. “I am excited about a lot of ways that artificial intelligence can be used to help people, but I'm nervous about how it can be used to take personal rights.”
“Our identities represent years of work to hone our craft and make a livelihood out of our passion. Our voices and likenesses are indelible parts of us that have enabled us to showcase our talents and grow our audiences, not mere digital kibble for a machine to duplicate without consent.”
The performer urged lawmakers to support the No Artificial Intelligence Fake Replicas and Unauthorized Duplications Act, known as the No AI FRAUD Act. The legislation would establish protections for Americans’ individual right to their likeness and voice against AI-generated fakes.
“AI-generated music and video using an artist's unique identity to perform — in questionable settings, or to sing lyrics that they would never write, or express that does not truly reflect who they are — is unacceptable,” Wilson said.
“It is a personal violation that threatens a person's dignity and can put at risk everything that they have worked so hard to accomplish. An artist's voice and likeness are their property and should not take a back seat to the economic interests of companies that have not invested in or partnered with the artist.”
