Cross-posted at Substack

Photo by BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash

          I recently became aware of an Instagram account (which shall remain nameless) that is posting AI audio recordings of late Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley’s voice, based in part on information I reported in my book.

            Like so many people, I have mixed emotions about the uses and misuses of AI technology. I am a fan of parodies, mashups, art, and other applications that are clearly intended for entertainment or humor. 

            On the other end of the spectrum, I have zero tolerance for AI used for deepfakes, deceptive purposes, or generally in poor taste.  The aforementioned AI recordings of Layne fall into this category.

            One of the many reasons I wrote the book was to gain a better understanding of Layne’s life and experiences, because he was such a recluse and because of his band’s general policy of not commenting on internal issues. 

            I interviewed dozens of sources and reviewed hundreds of pages of documents over the course of three years. The explicit goal was to create the most accurate account of Layne’s life and career that I could, based on the access and information I was able to obtain. 

            Because Layne and so many other people in the story died years before I started the project, it was especially important for me to get their stories right, because they weren’t around to tell it for themselves.

            I am proud of the work that I did and stand by it.

            I want to make absolutely clear: I did not give permission for the creator of these recordings to use my book to make fabricated AI audio recordings attributed to Layne, nor do I condone or endorse them.

            I had to go through a seemingly endless amount of lies, rumors, innuendo, and misinformation to sort fact from fiction as I was researching my book.  What this Instagram creator has done/continues to do is no better than Argentine “journalist” Adriana Rubio fabricating an entire interview with Layne that never happened. 

            Legally, there’s nothing I can do about these AI recordings.  My first reaction was not to say anything, because I didn’t want to elevate this person’s account. Given the misuse of my journalism, I feel I have no choice but to write this. 

            My message about these recordings to Alice in Chains fans and people who read my book is to ignore them.  Do not share, click on, or comment on them to give the creator the attention he or she clearly desires. 

            I’ll close with a quote about the risks of generative AI from McKinsey senior partner emeritus Bill Schaninger:

“Getting a better, shinier tool that’s faster and more expansive
doesn’t relieve you of the burden of thinking things through.”