Vancouver voice actors concerned about AI cloning voices without consent
Advances in artificial intelligence means software can generate accurate voice clones that sound just like the real thing, but that's putting some actors in a precarious position, including Vancouver's Bill Newton.
He recently found out his voice was cloned without his permission based on a project he was in years ago.
"My voice in particular, on one of the websites that stores AI models, has been used 481 times,” he said.
With an impressive vocal range, the performer, who is part of the Union of BC Performers and the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists can be heard in big-name projects, including My Little Pony and Lego Marvel.
Fortunately, the unauthorized use of his voice hasn't impacted him booking gigs, but Newton and other artists wonder if it might in the future and what will happen to the quality of creative projects.
"There's a lot of corporations, producers, studios that will look at things and the savings they can make and consider it good enough – and that’s the last thing we want,” he said.
UBC Theatre and Film assistant professor Patrick Parra Pennefather, shared more of an optimistic view.
"The dominant use of these tools, thoug,h are for good and to benefit humanity,” he said, adding that AI can be used as a creative tool.
“I think the future is in individuals and organizations having more control over their own data,” he said. “How can it give you a demo of what you might sound like if you read the script?”
With the ease, affordability and proliferation of AI, performers wonder whether companies will outsource creative work to bots.
“As actors and performers, when we agree to put our faces, voices, names on things, we are aware of what that will become. AI takes that away. Suddenly, I can be used as a spokesperson for something that I am morally against,” said Newton.
Pennefather argues AI can’t mimic the nuances and true emotion of human speech and it also makes mistakes, but notes that the technology is getting smarter.
"Actors need to be really aware that the technology exists, but I’m going to say this to not just actors, but everybody – your voice can be cloned, mine can be cloned. All someone needs is a lot of recordings of that particular voice,” he explained.
With Hollywood writers on strike, many in the entertainment industry are keen to negotiate their contracts to account for the potential challenges posed by AI and to push for the implementation regulations and protections.
"There are a lot of policies that are being developed nationally and also internationally to take on these ethical dilemmas that AI is surfacing,” Pennefather said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.