Taylor Swift files to trademark her voice and likeness in the age of AI

Taylor Swift is taking proactive measures to safeguard her identity in the era of artificial intelligence by trademarking her voice and likeness. Her company recently filed three trademark applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Two of these applications protect her voice when speaking the phrases “Hey, it’s Taylor Swift,” and “Hey, it’s Taylor,” while the third covers an image of her on stage with a guitar. Intellectual property attorney Josh Gerben highlighted the importance of such actions as AI technology makes it easier to create “deepfakes,” which can falsely depict celebrities. Gerben believes Swift’s move will inspire other public figures to follow suit, as existing trademark laws were established before the advent of advanced AI. This trend is also seen with actor Matthew McConaughey, who trademarked his famous line from “Dazed and Confused.” These steps aim to prevent unauthorized use of celebrity identities in AI-generated content. QUESTION: How might the increasing use of AI in creating deepfakes impact the way we perceive authenticity in media and entertainment?