Lainey Wilson was one of a series of witnesses that sat before lawmakers in Los Angeles Friday to plead the case of artists and performers who are being threatened by artificial intelligence, or “AI.” The singer called for passage of proposed legislation that would curb the use of unauthorized AI deepfakes and voice clones, telling lawmakers that “we need to keep humanity in art. We cannot lose that.”
Wilson was among the witnesses testifying at a Los Angeles field hearing of a House Judiciary subcommittee, with some strong endorsements for the proposed bill (The “No AI Fraud Act”). “My art is uniquely and literally me, my name, my likeness, my voice,” Wilson said. “I do not have to tell you how much of a gut punch it is to have your likeness or your voice ripped from you and used in ways that you could never imagine or would never allow. It is wrong, plain and simple.”
As an example, Wilson described a situation that she and several other country stars like Trisha Yearwood and Dolly Parton found themselves dealing with recently. She explained that she has spotted herself online in unauthorized ads in which she is selling weight loss gummies. “I would never in a million years ever do anything like that. But at the end of the day, people say like, ‘I got to see it to believe it.’ Well they’re seeing it and they’re believing it, and folks that I am super close to believe it at times too. And it’s really, really scary when it gets to that point.”
Source: Deadline
