Noonoouri’s creator, Jeorg Zuber, used his own voice — digitally feminised — and motion capture of his movements to animate the avatar. It is Zuber’s embodiment of femininity that is being portrayed here, ultimately to produce a pliable brand ambassador. As Warner’s senior A&R manager, , has stated: “We can change her style in a minute … we can make her fly if we want.”
As British author Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism Project, , apps used to develop these female avatars and characters rely on a misogynistic idea of “what a woman is and should be. She’ll never disagree with you, she’ll never answer back”. It is not AI doing the impersonation, but the human company.
Technology may blur boundaries, but it also reveals who holds the power. When male creators use AI to simulate female voices and personas, are they expanding artistic possibilities or perpetuating a new form of gender appropriation, ventriloquism and misogyny? One call to action to counter the growth of the manosphere is the increased presence of . Yet voice simulation technologies may undo this.
In the age of AI, impersonation takes on new meaning. When mediated by technologies largely controlled by cisgender men and tech platform companies, female impersonation risks becoming a tool of dominance rather than expression. The question is no longer just about artistic freedom — it’s about who gets to speak, and who is being spoken through.
This article is part of our State of the Arts series. These articles tackle the challenges of the arts and heritage industry — and celebrate the wins, too.
, Principal Lecturer, Music,
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