Today marks another day in the ongoing debate between artificial intelligence and professionals who feel threatened by its use. The rise of AI has resulted in the dissolution of numerous jobs, leaving many employees concerned about the legality of its implementation.
Recently, there was a face-off between voice-over artists and brands using artificial intelligence to recreate their voices. Apparently, AI for voice-over projects is gaining traction, as there have been many instances where brands/individuals were called out for cloning voice-over artists.
This resulted in a massive protest among voice-over artists, as they all came out on social media platforms to share their disdain over the unauthorized use of their voice with AI.
What Happened?
There was an uproar in the voice-acting community, especially on Twitter, after their voices were used without permission to create content for different MODs.
Their voices were used to create content for NSFW mods to worsen the situation. NSFW mods are mostly used to create pornographic and other sensitive content.
Twitter user Robbie92_, who is part of those fighting against AI audio generators, posted most of Skyrim voice-over artists whose voices were used for NSFW mods without their permission.
With the rise of AI voice cloning, voice actors are being abused by the modding communities. As a member of the Skyrim modding scene, I am deeply concerned at the practice of using AI voice cloning to create and distribute non-consensual deepfake pornographic content. pic.twitter.com/ySUFqrtjH0
— Robbie (@Robbie92_) July 1, 2023
This sparked a wide range of reactions from the voice-acting community, as they were annoyed by brands using their voice to create illegal content.
The National Association of Voice Actors immediately responded to the new development with a tweet: "The damage to voice actors and game companies by AI and synthetic voices is real and tangible."
They tagged some companies, such as Bethesda Studios and ZeniMax Online, saying, "Voice actors don't have the legal ability to fight this, but you can help."
Reactions from Voice-Over Actors
The reactions from the voice-acting community were simply that of rage as they were angry about their voice being used without their permission.
Prominent figures in the community, such as Linsay Rousseau of Transformers: War for Cybertron, Deathloop, and Fallout 76, shared their opinions about using mods. She said, "Voice Actors don't consent to this. If you're using these mods, you're stealing & abusing our work."
Jennifer Hale, the voice of Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect Series, said one must get written permission from a voice artist before proceeding to use their voice to create any content.
"To make this CRYSTAL clear: if you do not have written permission to use my voice, you DO NOT HAVE PERMISSION to use my voice, including AI use," she said.
Another top contributor to the ongoing issue was Abbey Veffer, who said it was not okay to use AI to clone the voice of artists.
"I do not, and never will, consent to my voice being used for AI synthesis, cloning, deepfakes, etc. This is NOT okay," Veffer said.
The Twitter user Robbie92_ said he was surprised many people picked up that tweet. "My goal was only to make a few specific people aware. I never expected the whole VO community to pick up that tweet. It is extremely humbling. They are the affected parties, the ones who matter, and they had no idea they were being abused in this way. My goal was to make a few specific people aware, and now, the whole VO community knows," Twitter user Robbie92_ said.
It's no longer surprising that artificial intelligence has been replacing authentic art. Nowadays, it's simple for anyone to create pictures, sounds, or clips on various topics using accessible AI tools. Despite this, many artists are disapproving of this trend and are urging authorities to regulate the overuse of artificial intelligence.