AI-generated Drake and The Weeknd song goes viral

A song that uses artificial intelligence to clone the voices of Drake and The Weeknd has gone viral on social media.

The track, called Heart on My Sleeve, simulates the two stars exchanging verses about pop star and actress Selena Gomez, who previously dated The Weeknd.

The creator, known as @ghostwriter, claims the song was created by software trained on musicians’ voices.

“This is just the beginning,” they wrote below the song’s YouTube video.

“We’re really in a new era,” one listener responded in a comment. “We don’t even know what’s legal and what’s fake anymore.”

AI developer Mckay Wrigley said on Twitter: “This is the first example of AI-generated music that really surprised me.

The song has been played over 8.5 million times on TikTok since it was posted on Friday. The full version is on Spotify and he has 254,000 plays.

As A.I. Drake raps, it opens with repeated notes of piano before transitioning into a booming bass beat.I come to my ex like Serena, banging Flex/Justin Bieber and there’s no heat left.“

Fake Weeknd responds with the verse “Alleging” that Gomez cheated on him before they broke up in 2017.

The track also includes a call to producer Metro Boomin’, who has worked with artists such as 21 Savage, Future, Nicki Minaj and Kanye West.

Not perfect. The song has the scratchy, low-quality feel of a bootleg demo. Vocals are also unclear and glitchy at times – likely an artifact of the AI ​​process.

Neither artist has yet responded to the song, but Drake has recently expressed frustration at having his voice duplicated.

“This is the last straw AI,” he posted on Instagram after coming across a fan-made video that appeared to rap Ice Spice’s track Munch (Feeling U).

Drake’s complaint comes after Universal Music Group wrote to streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music asking them to block the artificial intelligence company from accessing their libraries.

It is believed that companies use music to “train” their software.

Several websites already offer the ability for fans to create new songs with voices that sound like the voices of some of the biggest pop stars.

French DJ David Guetta recently used the site uberduck.ai to imitate Eminem’s voice and add it to one of his instruments.

But he said the technology is only useful “as a tool” – like the drum machines and samplers before it.

“Nothing can replace taste,” he said. “What defines an artist is having a certain taste, having a certain type of emotion they want to express, and using all modern instruments to do it.”

The rapid rise of technology has shaken the music industry. Heart On My Sleeve, for example, does not infringe copyright because it looks completely original.

The author also clarified that Drake and The Weeknd were not involved in the song’s creation. This protects (in theory) from “passing off” claims and benefits by misleading viewers into thinking it’s real. .

In response, a broad coalition of musicians and artists launched the “Human Artistry Campaign,” which aims to stop artificial intelligence from “eroding” human creativity.

Backed by the Recording Industry Association of America, the Independent Music Association, and the BPI, which organizes the British, the group has outlined seven principles that advocate best practices for AI, and copyright protection for human-created music. emphasized that it should only be given to

Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr., launching the initiative, said:

“It’s important to get this right early on so you don’t risk losing the artistic magic that only humans can create.”