'While I despair over my overhanging stomach': Stefanie Sun shares thoughts as her AI version trends

Stefanie Sun has a new rival — a more technologically advanced version of herself.

In a blog post on Monday (May 22), Stefanie gave a very human response to the recent explosion of popularity that an AI version of herself has received on Chinese social media.

The 44-year-old Singaporean singer began on a self-deprecatingly humorous note, sharing some of the problems that a mortal middle-aged mother faces on Earth: "As my AI voice takes on a life of its own while I despair over my overhanging stomach and my children's every damn thing, I can't help but want to write something about it."

Stefanie is married to entrepreneur Nadim van der Ros and they have a 10-year-old son and four-year-old daughter. 

In February this year, a photo of her sporting a small belly left netizens wondering if she was pregnant. Her manager later confirmed she wasn't and asked the public to "forgive this female artiste who's entered middle age".

The AI music constructed based on her voice has been trending on Chinese video-sharing website Bilibili, with Stefanie's persona doing covers of older Mandopop hit songs including Taiwanese singer Jay Chou's Hair Like Snow (2005) and Love Before BC (2001).

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Stefanie continued in her first blog post since 2018: "My fans have officially switched sides and accepted that I am indeed an obscure singer, while my AI persona is the current hot topic. 

"I mean really, how do you fight with someone who is putting out new albums in the time span of minutes?"

She then goes on to address the development of AI and comparing it to humans, describing AI as "the looming thing that will threaten thousands of human-conjured jobs".

Additionally, even if some might be able to distinguish the difference between man-made and AI-generated music, Stefanie believes that this is just a "short-term response".

"In no time at all, no human will be able to rise above that (AI)... This new technology will be able to churn out exactly everything everyone needs… You are not special, you are already predictable and also, unfortunately, malleable."

She compared these recent developments to a movie that's "changed a lot of our lives" — Everything Everywhere All At Once — stating that she felt like she was eating popcorn "with the best seat in the theatre".

However, unlike the cliches of movies, the "idea of love" will not be able to "save the day".

Stefanie finished: "In this boundless sea of existence where anything is possible and nothing matters, I think it will be purity of thought that being exactly who you are will be enough."

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