Renowned documentary filmmaker, naturalist, and historian Sir David Attenborough has criticised the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to clone his voice.
Reports indicate that online media outlets in the US have used Attenborough’s distinctive tone to narrate news reports on various topics, including recent elections and the war in Ukraine.
“Having spent a lifetime trying to tell what I believe to be the truth, I am deeply disturbed to find that these days, my identity is being stolen by others, and I strongly object to it being used to say whatever they wish,” Attenborough told the BBC.
BBC News aired a comparison between an authentic voiceover for Attenborough’s recent nature documentary series on Asia, released earlier in November, and an AI-generated version. Many viewers found it challenging to distinguish between the two.
“Our privacy and copyright laws are not up to date with what this new technology represents, so there’s very little David Attenborough can do,” Dr Dominic Lees, a researcher and professor of film studies, told The Guardian.
BBC News also shared a response from the anonymous website that created the fake clip using Attenborough’s voice.
The surprising reply was delivered using the same AI voice model heard in the deepfake clip: “I am not David Attenborough. We are both male British voices, certainly. However, I am not David Attenborough, for anyone out there who might be confused,” it stated.
Voice cloning technology powered by AI has already infiltrated major creative industries and has been used in scams.
Source: ANA-MPA
