Nicola Coughlan, Matt Lucas and Hugh Bonneville are among the high-profile names backing a new campaign against AI voice cloning.
Titled “Save Our Voices Now,” the initiative calls for greater protections against AI technology being used to replicate a person’s voice, according to The Guardian. The group of over 80 industry names — which also includes Coughlan’s “Derry Girls” co-star Siobhán McSweeney, “The Hobbit” actor Luke Evans, comedian Jen Brister and “Doctor Who’s” Pearl Mackie — is asking for U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham to introduce legislation giving every person in the country the right to their own voice.
The campaign was co-founded by audiobook narrator Alice Sockett, who said in a statement (via BBC News) that the issue poses “an existential threat to our entire industry” and voice theft “increases every week.”
“My voice is unique, it’s mine, it’s part of my identity. So is yours. That’s worth speaking up about,” said “Paddington” and “Downton Abbey” star Bonneville, adding that his “quote was handwritten, not created by AI.”
McSweeney said: “I’m deeply worried that legislation, contracts, working practices and ethics, and artists’ rights are not being considered or protected as quickly as AI technology is progressing. I believe that there is a way to work alongside AI and to use it as a tool that benefits us rather than rendering us obsolete. This is an existential problem and needs to be controlled legislatively as soon as possible. My voice is one of my tools.”
