I understand the knee-jerk reaction to defend vocal synths like Vocaloid6 and SynthV by saying they "don't use gen AI," but I feel like that's both misleading and does more harm than good.
The reason I think it's harmful to act like modern vocal synths aren't using gen AI is because they're one of the extremely, extremely rare forms of artistic AI that leap and bound over the most common ethical roadblocks:
-The voice providers have given their full informed consent, are protected contractually, and are paid for their contributions. Many--depending on the agency--also get royalties.
-These vocal synths don't rely on data centers. The energy used to run these programs is from your local computer, which is why they can be used entirely offline. They're also quite efficient: Some video games use more power.
-Using vocal synths still requires hard work and artistic skill. They may sound more "natural" than old concatenative synths, but they do not generate songs for you. It's like working in a DAW with a piano roll, and you still have to tune it bc the "natural" sound is lackluster or downright bad without improvement.
If we acknowledge that vocal synths do use AI now, and in ethical ways, we can further illustrate how other AI agencies have no excuse for their behavior.
