Céline Dion joins the list of musicians sounding the alarm on fake AI-generated songs

Samritha Arunasalam · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 10, 2025 2:46 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

Musical artists' conflict persists against artificial intelligence, integer copycats and the hazard that their copyright isn't protected enough.

Most recently, Canadian vocalist Céline Dion took to societal media to pass fans astir AI-generated euphony spreading online that has been mimicking her voice.

The Québécois singer's representatives posted a connection connected her Instagram saying, "Unsanctioned, AI-generated euphony purporting to incorporate Celine Dion's philharmonic performances, and sanction and likeness, is presently circulating online and crossed assorted Digital Service Providers.

"Please beryllium advised that these recordings are fake and not approved, and are not songs from her authoritative discography," the connection said.

Several fake recordings person precocious cropped up connected YouTube credited arsenic an AI-generated version of the singer's voice.

One is simply a screen of the gospel opus Heal Me Lord, which has amassed much than 1 cardinal views, portion versions of a fake Dion person been utilized for respective duets, including 1 of I Will Always Love You with Whitney Houston and See You Again with Charlie Puth.

Followers online rallied successful enactment of the singer, with responses to the station like, "This AI crap is getting retired of hand. There needs to beryllium laws astir this," and "Oh present AI coming for the Canadian queen."

LISTEN | AI screen Heal Me Lord: 

Creative industries globally person been grappling with the ineligible and ethical implications of AI models that tin nutrient their ain output aft being trained connected fashionable works without needfully paying the creators of the archetypal content.

"Artists should person the close to opt successful oregon retired of having their works utilized and get just compensation erstwhile their vocal oregon ocular individuality is employed successful AI-generated works, ensuring that originative collaboration and innovation hap with an artist's explicit support and oversight," said Dr. Charlie Wall-Andrews, originative industries professor at Toronto Metropolitan University.

'Assault connected quality creativity'

Dion is among galore Canadian performers who've seen their celebrated voices used for unauthorized AI covers. The Weeknd, Alanis Morissette and Shawn Mendes person each had fake songs circulating online.

An AI opus mimicking the voices of 2 of Canada's biggest artists, Drake and The Weeknd, went viral past twelvemonth earlier streaming services pulled it, portion Justin Bieber's digitally faked dependable appeared successful a viral opus "featuring" himself, Bad Bunny and Daddy Yankee.

WATCH | Why these musicians are demanding protection against AI: 

The My Heart Will Go On vocalist is not the archetypal among respective musicians who person taken to protesting AI usage of their enactment and calling for extortion against copycats.

The Artist Rights Alliance, a non-profit advocacy organization, issued an unfastened missive past twelvemonth calling connected artificial quality tech companies, developers, platforms and integer euphony services to halt utilizing AI to "infringe upon and devalue the rights of quality artists."

"This battle connected quality creativity indispensable beryllium stopped," said the letter, which was signed by much than 200 philharmonic artists, including Billie Eilish, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry and Stevie Wonder.

Last month, much than 1,000 musicians, including Kate Bush, Annie Lennox and Cat Stevens, released a soundless medium to protestation projected British changes to artificial quality laws that artists fearfulness volition erode their originative control.

The album, called Is This What We Want, featured the dependable of silence, with the one-word titles of the 12 tracks spelling retired "The British Government Must Not Legalize Music Theft to Benefit AI Companies."

WATCH | Album featuring the dependable of silence: 

Making it arsenic a instrumentalist tin instrumentality decades of enactment and training, and for galore artists, seeing that AI could conscionable regenerate oregon hitch retired each that clip and effort successful a substance of minutes has been origin for concern.

"AI-generated euphony monetized without quality artists not lone undermines the already precarious livelihoods of creators, but besides diminishes the profoundly quality essence that fuels genuine creator expression," said Wall-Andrews.

Can AI lend without ripping radical off?

The euphony manufacture has been moving proactively to support artists' rights, including dependable and likenesses, and to address deepfakes and unauthorized AI-generated content, said Wall-Andrews. This includes creating industry-wide agreements connected what constitutes just usage for AI, and processing tools to observe and way misuse. 

And connected the flip side, AI-driven tools person been changing the dynamics of euphony accumulation by automating tasks and opening up caller originative possibilities.

Some person embraced the technology, including Toronto rapper Drake, who utilized an AI mentation of deceased rapper Tupac Shakur's dependable past twelvemonth connected 1 of his Kendrick Lamar diss tracks. However, Shakur's estate wasn't happy with the "unauthorized usage of Tupac's dependable and personality," and the opus was yet removed.

"The euphony manufacture tin incorporated AI responsibly by establishing transparent licensing frameworks, ensuring consent, and compensation models that support artists' rights, portion encouraging experimentation," said Wall-Andrews.

"With due oversight and wide ethical guidelines, AI tin service arsenic a almighty instrumentality for collaboration and innovation without diminishing the worth of music."