John Legend, Demi Lovato to Trial AI Versions of Their Voices

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is hitting the mainstream in a big way. Some of the biggest artists in music are trialing AI-generated versions of their voices for YouTube. Among these artists include John Legend, Demi Lovato, Sia, Charlie Puth, Charli XCX, T-Pain, Troye Sivan, Alec Benjamin, and Papoose. The Google-owned video platform is using a music generation model to produce 30-second clips in a limited trial for creators. YouTube says the Dream Track experiment has been opened to about 100 US creators using its Shorts feature.

In a blog post, YouTube said creators would be able to produce a 30-second soundtrack by typing a text prompt. “By simply typing an idea into the creation prompt and selecting a participating artist that appears in the carousel, an original Shorts soundtrack featuring the AI-generated voice of that artist will be produced for the creator to use in their Short,” the site reads. YouTube posted examples using an AI-generated Charlie Puth singing "a ballad about how opposites attract, upbeat acoustic." In another example, the prompt reads: "A sunny morning in Florida, R&B" for a T-Pain tune. The voice, instrumentation, and lyrics in the Dream Track experiment are all AI-generated.

YouTube also hopes to produce AI-generated results like humming a tune and converting it into a guitar riff or taking a pop track and turning it into a reggaeton song to test later this year. According to The Guardian, the Dream Track trial is powered by Lyria. This week, YouTube said it was introducing a tool that would allow music labels and distributors to complain about unsolicited AI content that mimics an artist’s voice. It will also allow people to complain about deepfakes, although it adds that parodic content or deepfakes of public officials and well-known individuals might be kept up on the platform.

Today is singer, songwriter, and producer John Legend's 43rd birthday. To celebrate the talented artist's big day, we've ranked his 7 best songs of all time, since his emergence on the music scene as a solo artist in 2004.

From his debut album, Get Lifted, "So High" was released in 2004.

Though he is featured on this Sam Smith song, John Legend's voice melds beautifully with the Brit. The two partnered up for 2015's Red Nose Day; proceeds from the single went to charities around the world who have pledged to make a difference in people's lives.

One of Legend's most popular songs of all time, from his fourth studio album, Love in the Future (2013). Legend said the song was inspired by his passionate love for his wife Chrissy Teigen, whom he married in 2013.

This song was originally being written for The Black Eyed Peas, but when John wrote it, he felt it was better as a ballad and kept it for himself.

The music video features John Legend dealing with a bunch of different women, who all actually represent different aspects of the same person. See how the clothes stay the same?

Legend belting, "Who do we think we are?!" gives us chills every single time we listen to this song.

"Green Light" shows a shift in musical style for Legend, opting for a funk and electro sound. Andre 3000 was recruited because "it just sounded like something he’d do." He immediately loved it and was on board, writing and recording his rap soon after.