Zakes Bantwini Calls on SA Producers to Curb AI Vocals

South African recording artist and producer Zakes Bantwini has appealed to music producers and DJs across the country to rethink their growing adoption of artificial intelligence vocals, calling on them to make room for human singers instead.

Bantwini’s intervention follows recent revelations that works by South African musicians were included in a database used to train AI models without obtaining prior permission or consent from the copyright owners. The discovery that local recordings were scraped to develop generative music systems has triggered widespread debate throughout the country’s entertainment sector.

Concerns Over Unauthorized Training and Creative Rights

In his appeal to fellow producers, Bantwini emphasized the importance of granting real vocalists professional opportunities rather than substituting them with synthetic performances. The controversy has intensified scrutiny among South African music professionals regarding how technological advances are reshaping recording studios and session work.

For the wider African music industry, the development reflects mounting legal and economic challenges surrounding generative artificial intelligence. As developers ingest sound recordings into algorithmic datasets, African creators face growing risks of unauthorized catalog exploitation without clear attribution, licensing agreements, or royalties.

The debate sparked by Bantwini underscores a broader continental conversation on intellectual property safeguards, as artists and rights organizations seek to protect creative labor and ensure that technology does not undermine livelihoods across the music ecosystem.

Source: Briefly SA Entertainment