AI-generated singer accused of perpetuating Roma stereotypes in Romania
A Romanian AI-generated singer called Lolita Cercel has sparked controversy for allegedly perpetuating harmful Roma stereotypes through sexualized imagery and traditional folk music. The AI creation has gone viral and achieved mainstream success while drawing criticism from Roma activists and real-world musicians who say the character represents discriminatory caricatures.
What happened
Tom, a 32-year-old visual designer, created Lolita Cercel, an AI-generated singer, which debuted late in 2025 and rapidly became popular in Romania, accumulating millions of views online. Tom wrote lyrics about love and everyday struggles, and used AI prompts to produce the music and videos.
The AI singer has received significant media attention, including TV interviews and representation by a top booking agency, and was used by a Romanian cabinet member to promote his ministry's projects. Tom said he chose folk music traditionally played by Roma because it 'speaks the truth most bluntly' and represents 'a kind of blues of our own', and described the project as 'a fusion of Balkan nostalgia and the synthetic future'.
Reported impact
Roma activist Bogdan Burdusel criticised Lolita as 'a very sexualised' character and 'a non-Roma man's fantasy of what a Roma woman might look like', highlighting 'latent and unaddressed racism' in Romanian society.
Real-life Roma singer Bianca Mihai, 25, called Lolita's overnight success 'unfair', saying 'I'm trying to build a career right now, and I feel like there's no room for me' while juggling a full-time IT job with rehearsals and acting. The AI singer's popularity has stirred debate about artificial intelligence replacing humans in Romania.
Index analysis
Tom said he did not necessarily mean for Lolita to have a Roma identity, stating the character 'doesn't necessarily belong to a specific culture' and 'reflects the reality of millions of people living in the Balkans'. He said he did not expect the project to go viral and has praised AI for 'democratising' musical creation.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
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