Your weekly update on how AI is changing our lives. Our experts keep it clear and simple, so you can stay ahead of the game. This week we are focussing on deepfake detectors. Don't forget to explore our Archive and Share & Subscribe with your friends!
The music industry being in a state of turmoil is hardly news, but thanks to AI things currently seem even more chaotic than usual. Last week the Recording Academy announced that Ghostwriter - the anonymous creator of controversial AI generated 'Fake Drake' song Heart On My Sleeve - would be eligible for a Grammy, “because [the song] was written by a human.” Unfortunately, this clear, definitive statement only survived 48 hours before the Academy reversed it. Their next directive declared the song would not be eligible, as “the vocals were not legally obtained.” That’s where we stand now, but who knows what next week will bring? As Silicon Valley’s lawyers thrash out deals with their Hollywood counterparts, confusion reigns.
It’s not just award ceremonies that are suffering from uncertainty; all across the internet, fans are struggling to separate musical fact from facsimile. A 404 Media report this week lifted the lid on a seething battle among Harry Styles fans, as supposedly unreleased tracks from the fresh-faced star trade hands online for hundreds of dollars. The vendors of these rarities claim they merely act as middlemen between fans and studio insiders, but most fans believe these to be AI generated fakes, not least because the supply of unreleased Harry Styles rarities suddenly seems to be inexhaustible.
Doubts remain, however, because to the uninitiated the songs certainly sound plausible, and proof to the contrary cannot be found. AI detection firms have identified the songs as computer generated, but they’re arguably having an even worse week than the music industry after OpenAI publicly stated that no software currently exists that can accurately identify LLM generated text. Generated audio is admittedly easier to spot than text, but current state of the art audio AI detectors can only boast a 99.5% success rate, and even that may not be sustainable; the constant training and development of AI models makes them a fast moving target.
Of course, this problem could be solved overnight with an intervention from the record companies, but there’s nothing new about a black market in mixing desk leaks, and music execs have never felt the need to validate bootlegs before. For now, these supposed rarities exist in a limbo state; they are neither real nor fake, merely very expensive.
It should be noted that while no AI detector is able to claim a 100% success rate, they are still a useful tool in an AI detective’s armory, and far from the only one. Don’t miss our handy field guide to spotting AI generated content for more tips and tricks!
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