Taylor Swift’s taste for Le Creuset is genuine: her kitchenware collection has been showcased on a Tumblr account dedicated to the pop star’s home decor, as seen in the wedding gifts she gave to a fan, and in a Netflix documentary featured on Le Creuset’s Facebook page.
What is not genuine, however, is Swift’s alleged endorsement of the company’s products, which have recently appeared in ads on Facebook and other media featuring her face and voice.
These ads are just one example of the many celebrity-focused scams that artificial intelligence has made more convincing. In October, actor Tom Hanks, journalist Gayle King, and YouTube celebrity MrBeast reported that AI versions of themselves had been used, without permission, to promote questionable dental plans, iPhone giveaway deals, and other advertisements.
According to experts, artificial intelligence technology has been used to create a synthetic version of the singer’s voice, combined with images of her and videos of Le Creuset pots. The cloned voice addressed “swifties,” her followers, and claimed to be “delighted” to give away kitchen utensils, asking people to press a button and answer a few questions to receive them.
Le Creuset denied collaborating with the singer on any giveaway and urged buyers to check their official online accounts before clicking on suspicious ads. Representatives for Swift, who was named Time magazine’s person of the year in 2023, did not respond to requests for comment.
