Taylor Swift’s affection for Le Creuset has been well-documented, with her collection of the cookware featured in various sources including a Tumblr account dedicated to her home décor, a detailed analysis of her kitchen by Variety, and in a Netflix documentary highlighted by Le Creuset’s Facebook page.
However, despite this, Ms. Swift has not endorsed the company’s products, which have been used in recent misleading ads on Facebook and other platforms featuring her image and voice.
These ads are among many celebrity-focused scams leveraging artificial intelligence to appear more authentic. In October, Tom Hanks, Gayle King, and MrBeast all expressed frustration at A.I. versions of themselves being used without permission in deceptive promotions.
In the case of Ms. Swift, experts revealed that A.I. technology was used to create a synthetic version of her voice, combined with footage of her and Le Creuset Dutch ovens. In these ads, her cloned voice addressed her fans and claimed to be giving out free cookware sets by simply clicking a button and answering a few questions.
Le Creuset disassociated itself from these giveaways, prompting them to urge shoppers to verify offers on their official online accounts. Representatives for Ms. Swift did not provide any comments on the matter despite her being named Person of the Year by Time magazine in 2023.
For now, Ms. Swift will likely continue to be a popular target for A.I. experimentation. Synthetic versions of her voice can be found regularly on platforms like TikTok, performing songs she never sang and even offering personalized voice messages through A.I. clones.
