Guitarist’s video stolen, replaced by AI and used to scam money

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The rise of generative AI has led to a paradigm shift, with both artists and music fans struggling to distinguish between what is real and what is artificial.

Gone (in 2025) are the days when online sleuths used to worry about whether someone was using a “fake” performance or backing track. Now, it all comes down to whether the guitarist on screen is a human or just a product of machine learning and algorithms.

But even machines have to learn from real players, as guitarist, songwriter, and social media influencer Sophie Burrell found out the hard way.

“I was scrolling through TikTok and someone suggested a video of a ‘girl’ playing the guitar,” Burrell says. guitar world. “It was exactly like my setup: same camera angle, same room, same guitar, same movements. It took me less than a second to realize that it was literally my video, except it was replaced with an AI-generated character.”

At first she thought it was funny. But that quickly turned to frustration and anger when she realized that viewers were interested in AI-generated videos at the expense of her reputation and years of hard work.

“Honestly, this is what it feels like.” black mirror “I was shocked to see that instead of learning an instrument or developing a skill, people would steal someone else’s work, slightly alter it with AI, and then try to take credit for it.”

“I’m angry that people can steal my content without my consent, use AI to completely replace me, repost it without crediting me, get attention, and then use that engagement to focus people on what they’re selling, which is usually inappropriate.”

Feeling helpless after his social media platform failed, Burrell released a video that has since gone viral. As it turns out, her incident was not an isolated incident, but the latest in an onslaught of disturbing AI-generated performance videos specifically targeting female guitarists and their fans.

Sophie Lloyd is no stranger to the guitar world, creating videos that rack up millions of views, building a community of millions of fans, launching a solo career, and touring the world with the likes of MGK. Due to her high-profile public persona, her videos are targeted and, in some cases, manipulated by malicious parties to deceive victims.

“I have received dozens of emails from people claiming to have been talking to me over video calls for months, clearly scammers using AI impersonation,” she says. “Some situations are truly devastating, where people are scammed out of large sums of money.

“The idea that our music and content can be stolen so easily is truly disheartening. We depend on interaction with our content for visibility, monetization, and opportunity. It’s literally our livelihood being stolen, and platforms need to start treating it as such.”

Brazilian breakout star Larissa Revir agrees. She has also had the futile experience of reporting these videos, only to find that they are multiplying without any punitive action being taken.

“I started to feel violated because I realized that anyone could take my image and do whatever they wanted with it, even if it was completely contrary to my values,” she says. “They may make me wear clothes I would never wear, pose in overly sexualized poses that I would never choose, or make me appear to say or do something that is not actually me.

“I’ve seen people alter some of their images to make their bodies more revealing or drastically change their physical characteristics, sexualizing them without their consent. TikTok often says it has no problem with accounts that use my name, my photo, AI-generated content, and comments that ask me to message them privately, even though it clearly leads to private conversations and people can be manipulated or scammed.”

In some cases, bad actors can go a step further and tarnish a guitarist’s reputation.

Tanya Yakimova is a guitarist, performer, and content creator from Odessa, Ukraine, with over 1.7 million followers on Instagram alone. “Some people were using these fake videos to try to build trust with my fans and scam them out of their money. I’ve seen screenshots of scammers pretending to be me and asking fans to send money or buy Apple gift cards or account credits.”

After our interview, Yakimova’s team came back with more disturbing news. “Recently, we discovered several Telegram groups dedicated to explicit AI-generated content, where Tanya’s face has been inserted into porn videos, GIFs, and images without her consent. Some of these groups contain hundreds of pieces of content.”

I have a real music career and have been touring and recording for almost 15 years and yet I am being lumped in with fake players.

becky baldwin

“Also concerning is that users in these groups are somehow sharing and distributing actual personal information about Tanya. We don’t know where this information came from, but it adds an even more disturbing element to the situation.”

While the form and severity of the fraud and abuse varies from player to player, the fact that videos of guitarists and bassists who are overwhelmingly female are being used suggests a kind of AI-facilitated honeytrap with an added layer of overt misogyny.

These actions appear to be aimed at degrading these athletes and putting their reputations at risk, or with a financial motive to deceive and defraud fans, or both.

“The rock, metal and guitar worlds remain male-dominated, and given the motivation behind these profiles (particularly those promoting NSFW sites), it makes sense that they target women,” Burrell points out.

“They are using female musicians to attract the attention of male audiences, often older people, who may not realize that what they are watching is generated by AI.”

Mercyful Fate bassist Becky Baldwin has also had her image used in deepfakes and AI-generated videos intended to mislead fans. “Social media companies are not interested in protecting women. Women who play musical instruments get attention on social media. They attract many male followers.

“When attractive, scantily clad fake women are being produced on a large scale to make money for unknown people, it’s very worrying for everyone’s mental health.”

Because of the wild west of AI-generated play videos, she feels “being lumped in with fake players,” when in fact “people who follow me know that I have a real music career that’s been touring and recording for almost 15 years.”

Mari Zaguete, a 19-year-old Brazilian guitarist, singer, and content creator, first noticed this phenomenon in clips of other players in her circle. But soon, malicious actors started targeting her videos. “The audio, settings, facial expressions, and performance dynamics were the same, but we just layered different faces together using AI,” she says.

Zagete believes that carefully crafted performance content by female guitarists is a particularly likely target. The reason for this is, apart from the image, [also] The movements, the techniques, the speed of the hands, the performances, the iconic songs… these videos instantly grab your attention.

“Instrument performance videos are easy to reuse because the focus is on the music and visuals, not necessarily the person speaking. This makes it easy for people using AI to replace images of real artists with artificial characters without the viewer knowing.”

But for Lloyd, “the bigger issue is not gender bias, but copyrighted content and identity theft.” In fact, in most countries and jurisdictions, AI-related laws are virtually non-existent or limited.

In the United States, Executive Order 14365 promotes a “single national framework” for AI, but critics argue it does little to address copyright and privacy issues. In 2025, Congress passed the Take It Down Act, which targets non-consensual intimate images and deepfakes posted online and typically created with the help of AI.

Earlier this year, the Senate passed the DEFIANCE Act, which would give victims the right to sue over deepfake porn.

Across the pond, the European Union has “no specific rules regarding copyright in AI-generated works.” In 2024, the EU enacted the Artificial Intelligence Act (widely regarded at the time as the most comprehensive AI regulatory framework in the world), but it has been criticized for reducing and relaxing some of the Act’s original obligations, particularly regarding copyright transparency and compliance requirements.

What all parties have in common, gender aside, is a struggle to get social media companies to take action. “The problem is not the technology itself, but how we use it,” Zaguete says.

I still believe that AI can be a great tool, but it needs to be properly monitored and regulated

Sophie Lloyd

“AI can be a great tool when used properly. Problems arise when it is used without transparency, without permission, and without protecting the original creator. Clearly, social media platforms have not kept pace with this growth.”

added Rollin LeRoy, a metal guitarist and content creator known online as Rollins Guitar.[When reporting]it’s hard to contact a real person who understands what the problem is. Platforms need to be more transparent about AI-generated content and give creators better ways to protect their content from being easily manipulated. ”

But in the end, the solution is far from easy, especially now that Pandora’s box has been opened. Some artists, like Baldwin, are calling for an outright boycott.

“We need to continue to have conversations about how social media companies should be held accountable and at least clearly mark AI content, or ideally be able to block it from their feeds,” she says. “Social media companies that refuse to keep their users safe should not be funded through advertising.”

Some people recognize that AI can be leveraged, albeit with limitations and limitations. “I still believe that AI can be a great tool for learning, creativity and improving people’s skills, but it needs to be properly supervised and regulated,” Lloyd says. “Copyright laws and protections against AI-generated content and impersonation should absolutely be strengthened.”

LeRoy emphasizes the need for platforms to “provide creators with greater transparency around AI-generated content and better ways to protect their content from being easily manipulated.”

At the end of the day, nothing will change until there are real economic and legal consequences for AI fraudsters. Zaghete said: “If monetization of AI-altered content is prevented, this type of content will be significantly reduced.”

guitar world has reached out to Meta for comment on what it is actively doing to protect artists and creators in the new world of AI. “We want people to know when they see an AI-generated post,” a representative said. “In 2024, we’re announcing a new approach to labeling AI-generated content.

“A key part of this approach relies on industry-standard metrics found in content created by other companies using their tools, which can help assess whether something was created using AI.”

TikTok did not respond.

• Have you experienced similar issues or been scammed yourself with AI-generated guitar playing videos? Contact us guitar world team of guitarworld@futurenet.com If you want to share your story.