Well, the Australian Association of Voice Actors (AAVA) is now turning up the heat on policy-makers in Canberra: when a synthetic voice created by an AI program voices over content, readers should be given a head’s up.
Its president, Simon Kennedy, cautions that hundreds of companies have jumped into agreements with voice-cloning platforms – often without even knowing the voices were made from thousands of hours of recordings by actors who never gave permission.
That’s an issue, and according to Kennedy, could pave the way for legal headaches later on.
Using an AI clone without transparency – around consent, payment and attribution - is risky, he told MPs. When AI-generated voices take work from real voice actors, it’s not just laziness or expense: it could strike at the core of creative integrity.
AAVA is calling for content that employs AI-synthesised voice to be labelled, so audiences can choose whether to consume “real voice” content.
This push is not occurring in a vacuum. The wider Australian government has recently issued guidance around the concept of water marking or labeling AI generated content in order to make it more transparent.
And that goes for all media: text, images, audio – pretty much anything created or playing with by AI. There are legitimate fears about deepfakes, misinformation and abuse.
So why should we care, beyond the creative world? All synthetic voices really need is a nudge forward; never mind advertising, audiobooks, podcasts or emergency announcements, because the line between real humans creating art and cheap automation goes fuzzy very quickly.
And without a clear label, listeners may not even know they’re listening to a clone. That damages trust, and might systematically undervalue human talent over decades.
I’m a big fan of efficiency and innovation – and AI does have legitimate applications when it’s kept under control. But I also believe that creators and audiences deserve honesty.
If something is a project with an AI-generated voice, let me know. Let me choose. Perhaps I need the warmth and nuance a human performer provides, or perhaps I don’t care – at any rate, don’t keep it from me.