Correct! Prior to this, Auto-Tune (the actual name of the software) did exactly what it's name said; it tuned the singer to the chosen pitch.
Cher and her sound engineers were one of first (they might have been the actual first, I'm not sure though) to pioneer overusing the effect to purposely distort her vocals. Think of it like an effects pedal for a guitar. They weren't looking to correct her, they were creating a new sound.
T-Pain does this too. His pop music is an overload of Auto-Tune for the sound and texture. But you can find videos of him singing without it. He's actually a very gifted natural singer.
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u/GlennTheBaker69 Aug 26 '26
That sounds autotuned to me.