UK Actors Launch “Save Our Voices Now” Campaign Against AI Voice Cloning

Summary

More than 80 British performers, including Nicola Coughlan, Matt Lucas, and Hugh Bonneville, sent an open letter to UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham demanding that a person’s voice be recognized as a protected statutory right. The campaign is called “Save Our Voices Now.” The group’s research found that modern AI can convincingly clone a voice from as little as three seconds of audio. Their survey data suggests 28% of UK adults have already been targeted by voice-cloning scams. Denmark is cited as a model in which citizens have been granted legal ownership of their faces, bodies, and voices, with the right to demand the removal of unauthorized AI reproductions.

Why it matters

Voice-cloning fraud is not limited to celebrities. Criminals are using the same technology to impersonate family members on the phone, targeting people into sending money urgently. For HTD readers with parents or grandparents who answer calls, this is one of the most convincing scams running right now. The legal push is in the UK, but the underlying technology affects everyone.

HTD Says

Eighty UK actors just pushed for a law giving people legal ownership of their own voice, and the number that should get your attention is that 28% of British adults say they have already been targeted by AI voice-cloning scams. AI voice cloning is a clear and present danger. And it isn’t something new.

I agree with the actors being worried that their likenesses (voice, face, and body) could be used without their permission. Some actors may grant usage rights (and that is a huge new industry, from legal to agency representation, that will be growing quickly). Others will not (and that is another industry where their sole task is to find likenesses and issue cease-and-desist lawsuits).

What scares me a bit more is the cloning of voices and faces when used in consumer scams. People are bad enough at clicking on seemingly legitimate texts or logging into fake websites. People, regardless of generation, will fall victim to these scams, and it will only get worse.

Source:

ITVX