Photo credit: I’m CK, not CK
Singaporean singer Stefanie Sun’s voice has been well received in China. The only problem is that the songs are AI generated fakes.
The release of her debut album Yan Zi in 2000 helped Sun become a household name in China and Hong Kong. Though Sun hasn’t released a song in more than six years, his voice has exploded online. On many major Chinese social media platforms, AI-generated content created under the AI-Sun Yanzi name has attracted a large following. This AI generated voice has Approved several covers of well-known Chinese pop music, including Jay Chou’s “Hair Like Snow” and Nan Quan Mama’s “Rainy Day”.
People on platforms like Bilibili joke that AI fakes are the hardest-working singers in the Mandarin music industry. Because these fakes can appear almost overnight. The hashtag “Stefanie Sun will be the first female musician to be replaced by AI” is also trending on Chinese social media sites. Meanwhile, Stefanie Sun’s fans are pretty much over the mimicry.
“That sounds wrong. “It mimics the singing tone of Sun around 2001 and Jay Chou’s ‘Hair Like Snow’ hadn’t been released at the time,” says one pedantic comment. “KI-Sun Yanzi can mimic her tone, but not her feelings. It can mimic their voice but not their live performances,” reads another.
On May 22, Sun took to social media for the first time to announce the release of these AI-generated covers. “My fans have officially switched sides and accepted that I am indeed an ‘unpopular singer’ while my AI persona is hot right now. I mean really, how do you fight someone who puts out new albums every few minutes?” the singer asks.
“Exactly the task that we have always convinced ourselves of; that the thought or opinion formation of robots cannot be reproduced, the mere notion that this is out of their league is now the looming threat that will threaten thousands of man-made jobs. Legal, medical, accounting and currently – sing a song.”