Matt Lucas and Hugh Bonneville call for law on AI voice clones
Prominent actors and performers have petitioned the UK government to establish legal protections against the unauthorized use of their voices by AI. The group argues that voice cloning poses an existential threat to the creative industry.
Why it matters
Reflects the growing tension between rapid AI innovation and the protection of intellectual property and human labor rights.
Share Save Add as preferred on Google Tom Gerken Technology reporter BBC / Getty Images Actors including Matt Lucas, Hugh Bonneville and Nicola Coughlan have written to the UK government demanding greater protection against their voices being used by AI.
The performers are asking Prime Minister Andy Burnham to introduce legislation which would give every person in the UK a legal right to own their voice.
Voice clones are created by training AI on recordings of real people. Quick versions can be made in minutes from a few seconds of audio, but high-quality copycats tend to require hours.
Audiobook narrator Alice Sockett, who co-founded the campaign, called it "an existential threat to our entire industry".
"My voice is out there in the public domain but completely unprotected," she said.
"We're seeing voice theft increase every week."
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