Category: Analysis

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Manal Mohammed, Senior Lecturer, Medical Microbiology, University of Westminster

From minimalist wrist designs to full sleeves, body art has become so common that it barely raises an eyebrow. But while the personal meaning of a tattoo may be obvious, the biological consequences are far less visible. Once tattoo ink enters the body, it does not stay put. Beneath the skin, tattoo pigments interact with the immune system in ways scientists are only just beginning to understand.

Tattoos are generally considered safe, but growing scientific evidence suggests tattoo inks are not biologically inert. The key question is no longer whether tattoos introduce foreign substances into the body, but how toxic those substances might be and what that means for long-term health.

Tattoo inks are complex chemical mixtures. They contain pigments that give colour, liquid carriers that help distribute the ink, preservatives to prevent microbial growth, and small amounts of impurities. Many pigments currently in use were originally developed for industrial applications such as car paint, plastics and printer toner, rather than for injection into human skin.

Some inks contain trace amounts of heavy metals, including nickel, chromium, cobalt and occasionally lead. Heavy metals can be toxic at certain levels and are well known for triggering allergic reactions and immune sensitivity.

Tattoo inks can also contain organic compounds, including azo dyes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Azo dyes are synthetic colourants widely used in textiles and plastics. Under certain conditions, such as prolonged exposure to sunlight or during laser tattoo removal, they can break down into aromatic amines. These chemicals have been linked to cancer and genetic damage in laboratory studies.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, often shortened to PAHs, are produced during incomplete burning of organic material and are found in soot, vehicle exhaust and charred food. Black tattoo inks, commonly made from carbon black, may contain these compounds, some of which are classified as carcinogenic.

Coloured inks, particularly red, yellow and orange, are more frequently associated with allergic reactions and chronic inflammation. This is partly due to metal salts and azo pigments that can degrade into potentially toxic aromatic amines.

Tattooing involves injecting ink deep into the dermis, the layer of skin beneath the surface. The body recognises pigment particles as foreign material. Immune cells attempt to remove them, but the particles are too large to be fully cleared. Instead, they become trapped inside skin cells, which is what makes tattoos permanent.

Tattoo ink does not remain confined to the skin. Studies show that pigment particles can migrate through the lymphatic system and accumulate in lymph nodes. Lymph nodes are small structures that filter immune cells and help coordinate immune responses. The long-term health effects of ink accumulation in these tissues remain unclear, but their central role in immune defence raises concerns about prolonged exposure to metals and organic toxins.

Tattoos and the immune system

A recent study suggests that commonly used tattoo pigments can influence immune activity, trigger inflammation and reduce the effectiveness of certain vaccines. Researchers found that tattoo ink is taken up by immune cells in the skin. When these cells die, they release signals that keep the immune system activated, leading to inflammation in nearby lymph nodes for up to two months.

The study also found that tattoo ink present at a vaccine injection site altered immune responses in a vaccine-specific way. Notably, it was associated with a reduced immune response to the COVID-19 vaccine. This does not mean tattoos make vaccines unsafe. Rather, it suggests tattoo pigments can interfere with immune signalling, the chemical communication system immune cells use to coordinate responses to infection or vaccination, under certain conditions.

At present, there is no strong epidemiological evidence linking tattoos to cancer in humans. However, laboratory and animal studies suggest potential risks. Certain tattoo pigments can degrade over time, or when exposed to ultraviolet light or laser tattoo removal, forming toxic and sometimes carcinogenic byproducts.

Many cancers take decades to develop, making these risks difficult to study directly, especially given how recently widespread tattooing has become.

The most well-documented health risks of tattoos are allergic and inflammatory reactions. Red ink is particularly associated with persistent itching, swelling and granulomas. Granulomas are small inflammatory nodules that form when the immune system attempts to isolate material it cannot remove.

These reactions can appear months or years after a tattoo is applied and may be triggered by sun exposure or changes in immune function. Chronic inflammation has been linked to tissue damage and increased disease risk. For people with autoimmune conditions or weakened immune systems, tattoos may pose additional concerns.

Infection risks

Like any procedure that punctures the skin, tattooing carries some risk of infection. Poor hygiene can lead to infections such as Staphylococcus aureus, hepatitis B and C and, in rare cases, atypical mycobacterial infections.

One of the biggest challenges in assessing tattoo toxicity is the lack of consistent regulation. In many countries, tattoo inks are regulated far less strictly than cosmetics or medical products, and manufacturers may not be required to disclose full ingredient lists.

The European Union has introduced stricter limits on hazardous substances in tattoo inks, but globally, oversight remains uneven.

For most people, tattoos do not cause serious health problems, but they are not risk-free. Tattoos introduce substances into the body that were never designed for long-term residence in human tissue, some of which can be toxic under certain conditions.

The main concern is cumulative exposure. As tattoos become larger, more numerous and more colourful, the total chemical burden increases. Combined with sun exposure, ageing, immune changes or laser removal, this burden may have consequences that science has not yet fully uncovered.

Tattoos remain a powerful form of self-expression, but they also represent lifelong chemical exposure. While current evidence does not suggest widespread danger, growing research highlights important unanswered questions about toxicity, immune effects and long-term health. As tattooing continues to rise worldwide, the case for better regulation, transparency and sustained scientific investigation becomes increasingly difficult to ignore.

Manal Mohammed does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Tattoos, toxins and the immune system – what you need to know before you get inked – https://theconversation.com/tattoos-toxins-and-the-immune-system-what-you-need-to-know-before-you-get-inked-271503

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Manal Mohammed, Senior Lecturer, Medical Microbiology, University of Westminster

Refugee health is often discussed in terms of crises such as disease outbreaks, malnutrition and psychological distress. But some of the most serious effects of displacement are harder to see. One example is how forced migration can change the bacteria in the gut that support immunity and long-term health.

The human gut contains trillions of bacteria, viruses and fungi, together known as the gut microbiome. These microbes help digest food, support the immune system and protect against illness. A healthy gut microbiome is usually diverse and balanced, with plenty of beneficial bacteria that help protect against infection and inflammation.

Studies show that refugees often have gut microbiomes that look different from those of people who have not experienced displacement. Researchers describe distinct gut microbiome profiles, typically with fewer types of microbes and changes in which bacteria are most common. These differences are not genetic. Instead, they reflect the extreme conditions many refugees face before, during and after displacement.

Understanding these differences can help improve healthcare for refugees, but it also shows how social inequality can become physically embedded in the body over time.

One common finding is higher levels of harmful bacteria and antibiotic-resistant organisms in refugee gut microbiomes. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria can survive medicines designed to kill them, making infections harder to treat and easier to pass on.

Poor sanitation and contaminated environments play a major role. Many refugees come from, or travel through, areas affected by conflict or disaster, where access to clean water and toilets is limited. Drinking unsafe water or eating contaminated food increases the chance that disease-causing bacteria will settle in the gut and multiply, a process known as colonisation.

Common examples include E coli, Salmonella and Shigella. These bacteria can cause diarrhoea, vomiting and fever, and in severe cases may lead to dehydration, blood infection, poor growth in children or long-term digestive problems.

Repeated stomach and bowel infections, especially in crowded places with poor sanitation, disturb the normal balance of gut microbes. Over time, harmful species can take over, while the overall range of microbes shrinks. Having fewer different types of gut bacteria is widely recognised as a sign of poor gut health.

Chronic stress makes these problems worse. Refugees are often exposed to prolonged stress linked to war, violence, forced movement, separation from family and ongoing uncertainty. Rates of mental health challenges are high, and stress affects physical health through the gut–brain axis, the communication system between the brain and the digestive system.

Long-term stress alters immune responses, hormone levels and the gut lining. These changes increase inflammation and make it easier for harmful microbes to grow, while reducing beneficial bacteria such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium.

Antibiotic use is another major factor driving poor gut health and antibiotic resistance. In low-resource or conflict settings, antibiotics are often used frequently because infections are common and access to testing is limited. Refugees may receive multiple courses without a clear diagnosis or follow-up. While these medicines can save lives, repeated or unnecessary use allows resistant bacteria to survive and spread.

Antibiotics also destroy helpful microbes that keep the gut healthy. Repeated courses reduce the number and variety of beneficial bacteria, weakening the gut’s ability to protect itself.

As a result, antibiotic-resistant strains such as E coli that can neutralise antibiotics can become established in the gut, making infections much harder to treat.

Poor conditions and malnutrition

Living conditions during displacement further increase the risk of gut infection and the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Refugees camps and temporary shelters are often overcrowded and lack basic hygiene facilities, allowing infectious diseases to spread easily.

Dietary disruption also affects gut health. Sudden shifts from traditional diets rich in fibre to emergency food aid high in refined carbohydrates deprive beneficial gut bacteria of fuel. Low-fibre diets weaken gut defences and allow harmful bacteria to thrive.

Malnutrition further increases vulnerability, especially in children, whose gut microbiomes are still developing.

After resettlement, refugees may still carry antibiotic-resistant bacteria picked up earlier. Barriers to healthcare can slow recovery. Language barriers, limited access to culturally appropriate healthcare and delayed treatment can lead to antibiotics being prescribed as a precaution rather than based on confirmed diagnosis. This sustains cycles of microbiome disruption rather than recovery.

The spread of harmful and antibiotic-resistant bacteria in refugee populations is a public health issue, not a personal one. Addressing them requires coordinated public health interventions, including improved sanitation, careful antibiotic use, stress-aware care and nutritional support that helps restore a healthy gut.

Understanding how all these factors interact is essential for developing humane, effective healthcare strategies that protect both refugee communities and wider public health.

Manal Mohammed does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. How displacement reshapes refugees’ gut health – https://theconversation.com/how-displacement-reshapes-refugees-gut-health-271997

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Christopher J. Finlay, Professor in Political Theory, Durham University

Sales of Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) rocketed when Donald Trump won the 2016 US presidential election. Nearly a year into the second Trump administration – and 50 years since Arendt’s death in December 1975 – it seems like an apposite time to revisit the book and see what light it sheds on 2025.

The book is brilliant but difficult, combining history, political science and philosophy in a way that can be very disorientating. So what might we, as democratic citizens, gain from reading it?

Born to a secular German Jewish family in 1906, Arendt studied philosophy under Martin Heidegger and Karl Jaspers before turning to Zionist activism in Berlin in the early 1930s. After a brush with the gestapo, she fled to France, and in 1941 left Europe for the US. So when she began researching Origins in the early 1940s, she was no stranger to totalitarianism.

Totalitarianism, she argued, was a radically new form of government distinguished by its ideological conception of history. For the Nazis, history was a clash of races; for Stalinism, it was class war. Either way, totalitarian leaders sought to execute historical “laws” by forcibly reshaping the humans they ruled.

Humanity, Arendt said, is distinguished by its infinite variability – no person can ever entirely substitute for another. Totalitarianism aimed to destroy this. It isolated individuals, dissolving the bonds through which they unite and empower each other, and sought to extinguish human personhood.

The concentration camps’ total domination did so by reducing each inmate to “a bundle of reactions that can be liquidated and replaced” before killing them. With everyone ultimately subject to this threat, totalitarianism rendered the human person as such, superfluous.

Rather than pursuing stability, totalitarianism was always a movement, constantly instigating change. When its propaganda collided with facts, it brutalised reality until the facts conformed. Its ideal subjects not only believed its lies: they no longer found the distinction between truth and falsehood meaningful. This was “post-truth politics” at its most extreme.

Common sense won’t save us

Comparing today’s politics to fully fledged totalitarianism can be illuminating. But if it’s all we do, we risk overlooking Arendt’s subtler lessons about warning signs that can help us gauge threats to democracy.

The first is that political catastrophe isn’t always signposted by great causes, but arises when sometimes seemingly trivial developments converge. The greatest example for Arendt was political antisemitism. During the 19th century, only a “crackpot” fringe embraced it. By the 1930s, it was driving world politics.

This resonates with hard-right and far-right ideology today. Ideas widely seen as eccentric 20 years ago have increasingly come to shape democratic politics. Anti-immigrant sentiment and xenophobia penetrate the political mainstream. Alongside growing Islamophobia, antisemitism is on the rise again too.

The mainstreaming of previously marginal views helps explain a second warning sign that politics is increasingly driven by what Arendt described as “forces that cannot be trusted to follow the rules of common sense and self-interest”.

A simplistic politics of ideological fantasy and paranoia takes over instead. It appeals most to the isolated and lonely, people lost in society who have given up hope that anyone will ever address their real interests and concerns. Perpetually frustrated by reality, they seek escape in conspiracy theories instead.

Arendt’s story resonates with There Is Nothing For You Here, Fiona Hill’s account of the “left-behind” in communities of de-industrialised regions in the US, UK, Russia, and Germany – regions where the far right has grown.

In early 20th-century Europe, similar experiences of powerlessness spread alongside the imperialist embrace of what Arendt called “the limitless pursuit of power after power”. When colonial violence boomeranged back to its European source, the powerless were drawn to leaders who exemplified the violent pursuit of power for power’s sake.

New wine in old bottles

The neo-imperialist flex of a US government executing civilian boat crews in international waters while deploying regular armed forces domestically to fight crime looks like an appeal to the same instincts Arendt was writing about.

But perhaps Origins’ most important lesson is about trying to understand something radically new using outdated concepts – “interpreting history by commonplaces” as Arendt called it. Faced with a jarringly new style of politics, there is a temptation to explain it away as mere nationalistic excess, for instance. Or as an understandable expression of economic disappointment and one readily addressed with economic remedies.

Origins tells instead the story of something much greater than the sum of its parts taking on a terrible life of its own. By trying to reduce it to familiar terms, Arendt said, “the impact of reality and the shock of experience were no longer felt” and people failed to resist when they most needed to.

But this lesson also applies to the idea of totalitarianism itself. It helped Arendt understand the 1940s, but we shouldn’t assume that it will apply directly to 2025. The term totalitarianism could itself distract, rather than mobilising people.

For example, if claiming that Trumpian populism is already totalitarian seems excessively alarmist, then deciding that it isn’t might be excessively reassuring. Either could diminish people’s ability to respond to the demands of the moment.

What we urgently need instead is what Arendt described as “the unpremeditated, attentive facing up to, and resisting of, reality – whatever it may be”. Origins’ greatest lesson is in showing us what that looks like.

The main lesson for 2025 is as much about what Arendt was doing in the 1940s as about what she was saying: actively thinking in the now, and trying to grasp an emergent “something” on its own terms – a threat that is taking shape, but which hasn’t yet fully revealed itself.

This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org; ff you click on one of the links and go on to buy something, The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

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Christopher J. Finlay has previously received funding from the British Academy and from the Leverhulme Trust.

– ref. How Hannah Arendt can help us understand this new age of far-right populism – https://theconversation.com/how-hannah-arendt-can-help-us-understand-this-new-age-of-far-right-populism-269626

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Adrianna Zabrzewska, Senior Research Fellow (Postdoc), Edinburgh Napier University

Toxic masculinity doesn’t stop at marginalising women and LGBTQ+ people. It harms straight men by discouraging emotional expression, tenderness, and connection.

As the TV show Adolescence demonstrated, the troubling anxiety and rage surrounding what it means to “be a man” can arise early in life. What Adolescence also reminds us, though, is that framing boys as potential threats is not the way to go.

So how do we reach boys before they radicalise in dangerous ways? How can we do this without reducing them to stereotypes?

While the effects of literature on empathy might not be straightforward, taking children’s literature seriously and looking into representations of masculinity in young adult fiction could be part of the solution.

In my research, I drew on feminist philosophy to propose three concepts for rethinking masculinity: relationality, vulnerability, and inclination. There are books that already feature these ideals, like Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan or Rick Riordan’s action-packed urban fantasy series Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard.

The concept, inclination, relates to fostering a caring, curious orientation toward difference, a willingness to “lean in” rather than stand aloof. Or, to paraphrase the Italian feminist philosopher Adriana Cavarero, it is the courage to fall down the “slippery slope” of love, friendship and emotional bonds. In my interpretation, inclination is the drive that motivates people to connect with the world and care for various vulnerable others.

Inclination can be seen in Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, which combines exciting adventures with emotional depth. Magnus is a teenage male hero who is sweet, caring, and driven by love for his friends.

With a diverse cast of characters, from deaf elves to Muslim American female warriors and genderfluid pottery artists, the series offers an engaging lesson in intersectionality, which refers to the fact that everyone is part of multiple social categories.

Riordan’s other boy protagonists – including Percy Jackson or Jason Grace (also from the world of Percy Jackson) – rely on friends of all genders and are not threatened by independent women.

They bravely display their own vulnerability while respecting the vulnerability of others. And if they don’t – like the protagonist of The Trials of Apollo – it’s because they’re written as caricatures of self-aggrandising, hyper-individualistic masculinity.

Redefining masculinity through queer fiction

The concept of relationality is the idea that we are formed not in isolation but through relationships. It acknowledges the diverse contexts we inhabit, and emphasises that our differences should be respected, not ignored. Ideally, a person who sees themselves as relational would focus on fostering an ethical commitment to honour, rather than exploit, the vulnerabilities of others.

This can be seen in Two Boys Kissing, which follows several queer teenage protagonists as they explore friendship, love, and identity. What makes the novel remarkable is its chorus of narrators: a collective voice of gay men whose lives were lost during the HIV/Aids epidemic.

The narrators watch over the living boys with tenderness and urgency. They become a vigilant, caring presence that transcends time and space. They provide a sense of continuity between generations and individuals, showing that relationships matter, not only in our immediate circles but also in the larger tapestry of life.

Vulnerability refers to the shared human condition of being a body born from another body. We are all finite and fragile, susceptible to harm, loss, and injustice. Through our fragility and dependence, vulnerability can be transformed into resilience and connection. This is especially true when we recognise the diverse experiences of disenfranchisement that we each face.

In Two Boys Kissing, the chorus of narrators celebrate imperfect bodies, both cis-gendered and trans, that defy unrealistic beauty standards. They whisper encouragement to a lonely teen contemplating suicide and agonise over his pain. They affirm that care, intimacy and affection are not signs of weakness but of strength. Through these voices, Levithan’s readers learn that self-acceptance comes not from independence or dominance but from reaching out to others.

When strategically integrated into stories, educational practices and daily interactions, vulnerability, relationality, and inclination can help us sketch new ethical horizons, and not only for masculinity but for gendered existence as a whole.

Of course, literature will not solve our problems. It will not turn us into better people overnight (if at all). But stories are powerful cultural tools. They can show boys that being strong doesn’t mean being unfeeling, and that caring for others is not a betrayal of masculinity but its renewal.

Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.

Adrianna Zabrzewska does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. How young adult literature and philosophy can help provide better role models for masculinity – https://theconversation.com/how-young-adult-literature-and-philosophy-can-help-provide-better-role-models-for-masculinity-271888

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Dave Cook, PhD Candidate in Anthropology, UCL

One of the first modern coworking spaces, C-Base in Berlin, was launched 30 years ago by a group of computer engineers as a “hacker space” in which to share their tech and techniques. Similarly, many of the people we first encountered in our anthropological research into the emerging world of digital nomadism in the mid-2010s were hackers and computer coders.

Nearly a decade later, we returned to Chiang Mai to see what had happened to these pioneers of the borderless, desk-free life. We wondered if they had been put off by the throngs of travellers who have followed in their sandal-clad footsteps, attracted by glamorous – if often inaccurate – images of the digital nomad lifestyle.

One of the city’s nomad hotspots is Yellow Coworking, which launched in 2020 as a blockchain-oriented, collaborative escape zone from the COVID pandemic. The later stages of the pandemic were an interesting time to be in Chiang Mai: Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was followed by mass layoffs in Silicon Valley when Twitter, Meta, Coinbase and Microsoft all made significant cuts.

Yellow Coworking saw an influx of former Silicon Valley workers, Russian and Ukrainian coders, and crypto enthusiasts. “Some ex-Silicon Valley employees are here playing around with startups,” one Yellow staff member explained. “It makes sense for them to come here if they are trying to create an MVP” (that’s “minimum viable product” – startup jargon for a basic prototype that, with luck, will become the next technological success story).

“With its lower costs,” the staff member added, “Chiang Mai gives them a longer runway” (the amount of time the startup can remain solvent without raising additional funds).

People walking into Yellow Coworking’s modernist, European-style building simply raise their hands to sign themselves in via biometric fingerprint scanners. Many are computer coders or IT specialists in their 20s, taking advantage of fast broadband and (mostly western) passports to disconnect their lives from any particular location. They view technology and code as a global language, with no need to stay rooted to a single country or location.

Vitalik Buterin, creator of ethereum – the decentralised blockchain behind the world’s second biggest cryptocurrency, Ether – was often a focus of discussion at Yellow’s regular meet-ups. Buterin has identified as a digital nomad for most of the past decade, claiming to live out of a 40-litre backpack. Like many crypto folk, he views this borderless lifestyle as making perfect ideological sense.

The borderless revolution

In Chiang Mai, cryptocurrency usage has spread to the local population. During one meet-up held in a local bar, the owner took payment for shots of Thai rum in bitcoin. She too talked about the borderless revolution that was coming, and crypto being part of her financial future.

One of the western “crypto nomads” present was trying to launch his own cryptocoin (built on Buterin’s ethereum ecosystem) and get others to invest in it. A few tables away, another who had invested – and lost – a fortune in cryptocurrency explained he was now living in Chiang Mai because of the city’s relatively low cost of living.

For every success story, there were tales of loss and potential scams. Some told outlandish stories of crypto startups and other projects that were hard to validate. One person who wrote eBooks on how to invest successfully in crypto was selling courses on how to get involved. Another was writing code to improve the security of the ethereum blockchain system, to ensure it would be safe from hackers.

A valuable asset for states

Digital nomad hotspots, which also include European cities such as Lisbon in Portugal, show how the worlds of cryptocurrency, blockchain and digital nomadism are colliding – and evolving beyond mere workspace provision.

A collaborative, incubator-like atmosphere is at the core of The Block Lisboa, where you can pay in cryptocurrency and which hosts weekly Crypto Fridays for networking, collaboration and ideas sharing. In 2023, it held the first Ethereum Block Summit, which promised to “delve into the future of finance” by exploring “groundbreaking advancements in the ethereum ecosystem”.

Meanwhile, CV Labs is building a blockchain ecosystem of its own, comprising coworking spaces, events and summits in Lisbon and four other cities including Vaduz in Liechtenstein and Zug – part of Switzerland’s “Crypto Valley”. These spaces are open to cryptocurrency professionals and enthusiasts with professional exchange in mind.

Digital nomads are becoming a valuable asset for states to compete for – as Tsugio Makimoto and David Manners predicted they would in their 1997 book, Digital Nomad. “Just as we are already seeing governments competing with each other to attract industrial investment,” they wrote, “we may see governments competing with each other for citizens.”

Malaysia’s digital nomad visa initially targeted only nomads from IT and digital professions such as cybersecurity and software development. Estonia launched a digital nomad visa along with its e-residency programme to target high-skilled digital workers. While these visas typically restrict local employment, many allow nomads to bring family members and offer a path to residency, such as in Spain and Portugal.

Coworking spaces started off as techno-utopian, hacker spaces. Thirty years later, they are an increasingly important aspect of some cities’ tourism calculations – having been given further allure by the rise of the niche group of crypto nomads.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. The evolution of digital nomadism: from hi-tech hacker spaces to crypto coworking – https://theconversation.com/the-evolution-of-digital-nomadism-from-hi-tech-hacker-spaces-to-crypto-coworking-272380

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Hussein Boon, Principal Lecturer, Music, University of Westminster

Voice cloning technology platforms like ElevenLabs allow anyone to replicate a voice using just a few seconds of audio, for a small fee. These technologies are reshaping cultural and artistic expression.

In 2023, Canadian musician Grimes released a clone of her voice, saying that “it’s cool to be fused with a machine”. Similarly, American composer Holly Herndon launched Holly+ in 2021 as a voice tool that sings back music using a “distinctive processed voice”.

These female-led examples demonstrate working with the creative challenges of voice technologies, and in some ways, they’re nothing new: electronic music pioneer and composer Suzanne Ciani developed a technological approach decades ago to incorporate a male persona, named “Steve”, into her compositions when a male voice was required.

Voice-swapping technologies are also used by some male producers to present as female artists. British researcher and musician Helen Reddington has observed that: “Like the male gaze, the male ear is hidden and its power exercised behind the scenes.”

Reddington wrote that in 2018 in relation to the way that male writer/producers use female singers to reach an audience. But applied to AI, this points to a cultural dynamic where voice manipulation, as an extension of the male gaze and ear, may also reflect deeper desires to control female identities – especially in music, where voice is central to emotional expression and identity.

Earlier this month, singer Jorja Smith accused producer Harrison Walker of using AI technology to clone her vocals for his single, I Run. Walker said: “It shouldn’t be any secret that I used AI-assisted processing to transform solely my voice.” But Smith’s record label responded saying the producers producer and his distributors seemed to revel in the resulting public confusion.

AI voice technologies are a form of information technology. However, once a voice is rendered as information and is simulated, it will have “lost” its physical form. The combination of disembodied voice and the quality of its simulation can make it easier for people to think of computers as being like a human. This means that a person will be heard whether a machine or human speaks. It is this connection to a person that voice cloning disrupts.

British AI artist Oliver McCann, known as imoliver, openly admits to having “no musical talent at all … I can’t sing, I can’t play instruments, and I have no musical background at all”. Yet through AI, he has developed songs that foreground a female persona. Likewise, the eminent producer Timbaland has invented a pink-haired female artist, TaTa, in a new genre he refers to as a-pop or artificial pop. But does a creator’s gender matter in the development of AI artists and wider fanbases?

Noonoouri, a digital avatar signed by Warner Music Central Europe in 2024, though not completely AI-generated, is a composite of digital tools, presented as a human-made young female fashionista turned pop star. The Instagram feed for Noonoouri shows everyday activities – eating pasta, throwing peace signs, even signalling support for Black Lives Matter. The avatar’s appearance is malleable. But these gestures and modified appearance, while seemingly empathetic, may be more performative than transformative.

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, Marec Lerche, 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, has pointed out, 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 girl voices to tackle misogyny. 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.

Hussein Boon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. When AI recreates the female voice, it also rewrites who gets heard – https://theconversation.com/when-ai-recreates-the-female-voice-it-also-rewrites-who-gets-heard-268257

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Julie Meril Gardner, PhD candidate in literature, Nottingham Trent University

When COVID lockdown loomed back in 2020, many people panic-bought toilet rolls – but I stocked up on notebooks and my favourite pencils.

I had been inspired by the writing of Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke. In Letters to a Young Poet (1929), a collection of ten letters written to a young military cadet who had sent his poetry to Rilke for critique, Rilke advised: “Confess to yourself whether you would have to die if you were forbidden to write. This most of all: ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I write?”

In a BBC radio programme, The Essay: Letters to a Young Poet, first broadcast in 2014, the English poet Vicki Feaver responded to Rilke’s question. She said: “Of course I wouldn’t literally die, but a part of me would die, as it did in the years when I didn’t write.”

My husband, Arthur Gardner, who died of motor neurone disease in 2008, would have identified with this. He started reading and writing poetry in his early 20s and his enthusiasm and ambition increased as he grew older.

During his last few months, he had lost the use of his arms and hands and was dependent on a machine that pushed air into his lungs. Nevertheless, he used every possible opportunity to work on his poems, particularly looking forward to the weekly visit of a sensitive and sympathetic Marie Curie nurse who would patiently scribe for him.

Feaver had wanted to be a poet since reading the work of William Blake as a child. But it wasn’t until she was in her early 30s, married with four young children, that she began to write seriously. The poem 1974, which appears in her collection, I Want! I Want! (2019), includes a conversation she had at a party when a man asked her what she did. The final stanza reveals how significant an impact it had:

‘I’m a poet!’ I lied

jolting myself to life:

a woman buried under ice

with words burning inside.

Feaver’s first full collection, Close Relatives (now out of print) was published in 1981. Thirteen years later, her collection The Handless Maiden won several awards. Many of these poems are reworkings of stories from other sources.

The title poem, one that Feaver has said is very important to her, is a retelling of one of Grimms’ fairy tales. A woman whose hands have been severed by her father has them restored when she plunges them in water to save her drowning child. Of course, hands are used for writing, and this is emphasised in the last lines of the poem: “And I cried for my hands that sprouted / in the red-orange mud – the hands / that write this, grasping / her curled fist.”

In a later poem, Bramble Arm, Feaver explores the notion that writing can be empowering. The speaker of the poem describes a dream where her right arm, “the arm that wields / my writing hand”, is covered in brambles:

It could be a punishment

for unlocking the voice

I was taught as a child

to soften or silence.

Or a sign of its power –

a weak woman’s arm

transformed into

a fearsome weapon.

Now in her eighties, Feaver has continued to write. Her most recent publication, The Yellow Kite (2025) is her first collection since she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. In the first poem, Ode to Parkinson’s, she addresses the illness which “began as her enemy”, but can be seen as a friend because: “You jolted her awake: / challenging her to live / every minute left to her.”

The word “jolted” is possibly a deliberate link to her earlier poem 1974. The jolt caused by the man’s question was the motivation to begin writing, and now illness has given a new sense of urgency to living fully – and for Feaver, that means writing.

There are 25 poems in the pamphlet. Many of them are about what it is like to live with Parkinson’s, some of them using the moniker “shaking woman”. One poem, Her Lost Words, reveals how hard it is for a poet who feels as if “the inside of her head”:

was a shaken snow-globe

where words, mingling with the storm

of whirling flakes, settled randomly,

revealing some and burying others.

In Parkinson’s Speaks, the disease is given its own voice, and it is a cruel one: “But I’m patient. I can wait. / You’ve already fallen / and broken a hip.”

The poems face up to the reality of ageing and serious illness but refuse self-pity or false optimism. The title poem, the last one in the pamphlet, refers to a kite that was a gift from a ten-year-old son “the year his father left”. The poet recalls “watching it as it soared” and the effect it had: “My spirit that I thought / would never recover / struggled up from the floor / and flew into the air.”

Writing does not take us away from the difficult and the painful. If we write with courage and with integrity, it can take us to the very heart of it.

It was after my husband’s death that I started writing poetry. Many of the poems I wrote then were raw and self-centred, but writing them helped me to make sense of my grief. Now I write with more awareness of the craft and with ambition.

It’s often difficult and frustrating but frequently absorbing and fascinating. I think of Rilke’s question. Must I write? My answer is yes.

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This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something from bookshop.org The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

Julie Meril Gardner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. How poetry can sustain us through illness, bereavement and change – https://theconversation.com/how-poetry-can-sustain-us-through-illness-bereavement-and-change-271003