Thanks to bad actors using A.I., you may have been convinced that Taylor Swift was personally endorsing a high-end line of cookware in a series of Facebook ads.
As The New York Times reports, the ads, which have appeared on TikTok as well as Facebook, are for Le Creuset cookware, a brand that Taylor is known to use in real life. But they use both her face and her A.I.-created voice.
In the ad, the fake Taylor voice was combined with footage of her and clips of Le Creuset Dutch ovens, and it “said” that she was “thrilled” to be giving away free sets of the pans as part of a promotion. It invited fans to click a button and answer a few questions.
The ads sent viewers to websites masquerading as legitimate online locations, like the Food Network’s site. Fans were asked to pay a small shipping fee of $9.96 to receive the “free” cookware. Those who agreed ended up being charged monthly hidden fees and never received the cookware, The Times reports.
Le Creuset confirmed it was not part of this giveaway and noted it’s not working with Taylor. According to the The Times, the fake campaign also used A.I. versions of Martha Stewart and Oprah Winfrey in similar Le Creuset ads.
Nine states have laws that regulate A.I. content, but as of yet, there’s no federal law in place to outlaw this kind of scam. Two bills introduced in Congress last year hope to address these issues.
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