Hollywood estates are lining up to cash in on AI voice-cloning deals as they seek to recreate the voices of deceased celebrities for new commercial opportunities.
Voice cloning company ElevenLabs Announced According to a CNBC report, the company has signed deals with the estates of celebrities like Burt Reynolds, Judy Garland, James Dean and Sir Laurence Olivier, and plans to use computer technology to recreate the voices of these stars for use in audiobook apps and other applications.
The one-year-old company “creates audio for books, news articles, video game characters, film pre-production, social media and advertising.” The New York Times, The Washington Postand Disney.
“It takes about 30 minutes of high-quality audio to professionally clone a voice,” ElevenLabs spokesman Sam Scalar said, and from that sampling, the company claims it can accurately recreate someone’s voice.
One way the company allows customers to use voices is as audiobook options: Customers can choose a celebrity’s voice to read a book, read an article, or for any other use included in the app, but customers don’t have the option to use the voice outside of the app.
Scalar said the company is keenly aware of the potential for misuse of the technology, adding: “We are very conscious of the risks associated with synthetic media and take the safe use of our tools very seriously.”
The use of AI to recreate the faces and voices of celebrities is a key issue for actors, and was featured as one of the main concerns of actors in the Hollywood actors’ strike in 2023. Also this year, voice actors in the video game industry went on strike, and one of their biggest concerns was that AI would be used to replace them.
A May poll of film industry workers found that 42% were concerned that AI would be used to replace human actors and other artists and “harm people” in the entertainment industry.
Additionally, a growing number of actors, directors and film industry figures are speaking out critically about the use of AI in the film industry.
Actor Nicolas Cage, for example, has warned that AI could lead to intellectual property theft, even going so far as to say that computers “are just going to steal my body.”
Actor Sean Penn has also slammed AI, saying that by 2023 its use will lead to “human indecency.”
The film’s screenwriter, Ron Nyswaner Philadelphiawarned earlier this year that AI will produce soulless rubbish, robbing artists and viewers of the possibility to “think and feel”.
Many prominent filmmakers have also spoken out against the use of artificial intelligence.
Producer, writer and director James Cameron has warned that AI will lead to warfare being dominated by out-of-control algorithms, resulting in Judgment Day-like catastrophes.
Directed by Ridley Scott Blade Runner Fame said AI is bad for humanity and likened it to a “technological hydrogen bomb.”
Director Christopher Nolan has said that AI will inevitably reach an “Oppenheimer moment” – a point of no return – and that humans will need to “take responsibility” for its development.
Meanwhile, actor Ashton Kutcher praised the advent of AI, saying it will level the playing field, democratize entertainment and enable anyone to make compelling movies and TV shows.
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