His voice is easily recognizable − maybe more so than any other part of him − but, is it really his?
Sir David Attenborough is objecting to an AI dupe of his voice, which aired in a BBC segment Sunday. A real-life version of the famed broadcaster’s voice was played alongside an artificial intelligence clone of it that reporters had discovered online. The two clips were shockingly similar. The site responsible was not specified, but BBC news host Kasia Madera reported there were several that offered Attenborough imitations.
In response, Attenborough told the outlet in a statement, “Having spent a lifetime trying to speak what I believe to be the truth, I am profoundly disturbed to find that these days, my identity is being stolen by others and greatly object to them using it to say whatever they wish.”
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The AI version of him then shot back, in a clip also played by the BBC, saying (in Attenborough’s voice): “Let’s set the record straight. Unless Mr. Attenborough has been moonlighting for us in secret and under an assumed name with work authorization in the United States, he is not on our payroll. I am not David Attenborough. We are both male, British voices for sure. However, I am not David Attenborough, for anyone out there who may be confused.”
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The comparison is part of a growing genre of side-by-sides meant to demonstrate how well artificial intelligence can dupe the average consumer. “I’m very confident in saying that in the long run, it will be impossible to tell the difference between a generated image and a real one,” James O’Brien, a computer science professor at the University of California, Berkeley previously told USA TODAY.
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In the entertainment sphere particularly, where Attenborough has made a name for himself as a documentary narrator, AI has become a major concern. Last year, Tom Hanks warned fans that a company was using an AI version of him to promote a dental plan. When Hollywood actors and writers unions went on strike last summer, AI was a major point of contention.
In May, Scarlett Johanson took on the AI giant Sam Altman and his company OpenAI, alleging its ChatGPT product had copied her voice without consent. In a statement provided to USA TODAY at the time, Johansson said Altman had asked her to voice the AI system and she had turned him down but he copied her voice anyway.
In October, Julianne Moore, Kevin Bacon and over 10,000 others from creative industries signed an open letter that was just one sentence long: “The unlicensed use of creative works for training generative AI is a major, unjust threat to the livelihoods of the people behind those works, and must not be permitted.”
Contributing: Chris Mueller, Kelly Lawler, Jessica Guynn, Bailey Shulz
