Sheryl Crow has slammed Drake for the “hateful” act of using AI to resurrect Tupac Shakur’s voice on his song ‘Taylor Made Freestyle’.
The 37-year-old rapper utilised artificial intelligence to clone the murdered performer’s voice on his Kendrick Lamar “diss track” earlier this year – although the tune was subsequently removed after Tupac’s estate threatened legal action – but Sheryl thinks it should have never been released at all.
She told the BBC: “You cannot bring people back from the dead and believe they would stand for that.
“I’m sure Drake thought, ‘Yeah, I shouldn’t do it, but I’ll say sorry later.’ But it’s already done, and people will find even if he takes it down.
“It’s hateful. It is antiethical to the life force that exists in all of us.”
Sheryl is fearful about the impact that the “slippery slope” of AI will have on all walks of life and admits that it was a chilling experience when she used the technology to have a clone of John Mayer replacing her vocals.
The 62-year-old musician said: “I know John and I know the nuances of his voice. And there would be no way you’d have been able to tell that he was not singing that song.”
Sheryl has urged politicians to impose tighter regulation on the use of AI but does take comfort in the fact that the software will never be able to replace the thrill of a live performance.
The ‘All I Wanna Do’ singer said: “AI can do lots of things, but it can’t go out and play live.
“So as long as we have live music, as long as we have hands holding a paintbrush, all is not lost.”