"AI-Generated Announcer Takeover: My Digitally-Reproduced Voice Urged to be Abandoned"
ScotRail's Synthetic Voice Sparks Debate Over Voice Rights
A voiceover artist, Gayanne Potter, has expressed her discontent with ScotRail's new AI-generated announcement system, claiming that the synthetic Scottish voice adopted for the system was modeled using her voice recordings without her consent.
The rail service introduced an artificial announcer, marketed as an imaginary character named Iona, to replace pre-recorded human announcers on board their trains. However, Potter alleges that the technology company, ReadSpeaker, used her voice samples, recorded in 2021, to create the AI model without her explicit agreement.
Initially, Potter was informed that her voice recordings would be utilized for text-to-speech translation purposes and accessibility tools for visually impaired individuals. Nevertheless, the implementation of Iona on ScotRail's trains has intensified the dispute, prompting Potter to demand the removal of the AI voice from the trains and the protection of voiceover artists from similar situations.
ReadSpeaker, the firm responsible for recording Potter's voice, asserts that it has addressed her concerns over the use of her voice data on multiple occasions. Meanwhile, Potter maintains that she was violated and that she should have control over her biometric data and the right to withdraw consent.
In an attempt to shed light on the matter, a Freedom of Information request has been made to ScotRail to disclose when they became aware of the dispute over Potter's voice data and the use of the Iona AI model.
This incident raises questions about the use of voice data and the rights of voiceover artists in the era of AI and synthetic voices.
The artificial announcer, Iona, on ScotRail's trains, has sparked a debate about voice rights, as it was modeled using a voiceover artist's recordings without her consent, causing the news to circulate about the controversial use of technology and artificial-intelligence in the realm of news and records.
The voiceover artist, Gayanne Potter, is demanding the removal of the AI voice from the trains and protection from similar situations, bringing light to the questions about the rights of voiceover artists and the utilization of voice data in the age of technology and artificial-intelligence.
