AI News roundup: Woman claims AI faked her daughter's voice, AI is coming for the music industry and more

(Image: REUTERS/Bobby Yip)

A woman from Arizona, United States, claims that con artists used AI to clone the voice of her daughter in a fake kidnapping scam.

• Jennifer DeStefano spoke about the hair-raising incident to WKYT, describing what went down after she received a call from an unknown number. DeStefano said she was shocked to hear her daughter crying on the other end when she picked up the call. Her 15-year-old daughter Brie was on a ski trip when she received the call.
• Luckily, DeStefano realised her daughter had not been kidnapped thanks to a fellow mother, who confirmed Brie was safe and enjoying her ski trip. It turns out, scammers had used AI to clone the 15-year-old’s voice.

The Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) team at Meta has released a tool called 'Animated Drawings' that can take your sketches and animate them.

• To train the models involved, Meta created a homepage with a web-based version of the tool and invited creators to upload their drawings and let the tool animate them. The creators could also provide consent to Meta that lets them use their drawings to train the AI models.
• The hope is that developers will use this framework to create more unique experiences. Meta says the tool will " lower the barrier to entry for people who want to experiment with animation and create their own drawing-to-animation experiences."

• UMG is working with streaming platform Deezer SA on a new “artist-centric” payment model to favor the music people really listen to in the foreground.
• Record labels aren’t entirely wrong in asking streaming platforms to clean house in favor of more “human” music. But this is also a good moment to think up fairer ways to distribute the streaming spoils and keep new human artists emerging. If whales are about to become a musically endangered species, what hope is there for the rest of us?