Morgan Freeman calls out AI imitations of his voice
Actor Morgan Freeman has recently offered criticism on the imitations of his voice created by unauthorised AI programs. Freeman’s voice is easily one of the most iconic in modern cinema, used to great degree through narration.
For instance, Freeman has used his voice to narrate expertly in movies like The Shawshank Redemption, March of the Penguins and Million Dollar Baby. However, the iconic quality of his timbre has led to Freeman becoming a popular actor in terms of AI imitations.
Recently, a series of videos on TikTok arrived that had been made by a woman who was pretending to be the actor’s “niece”. Freeman had made it clear, though, that he is no fan of the technology and recently thanks his fans for calling it out.
“Thank you to my incredible fans for your vigilance and support in calling out the unauthorized use of an A.I. voice imitating me,” the actor wrote on Twitter. “Your dedication helps authenticity and integrity remain paramount. Grateful.
Artificial intelligence has frequently been in the news recently, particularly in the entertainment industry. For instance, late last year, Scarlett Johansson sued an AI app by the name of Lisa AI. for using her likeness in an online advertisement without gaining her permission.
At the time, Johansson’s attorney noted, “We do not take these things lightly. Per our usual course of action in these circumstances, we will deal with it with all legal remedies that we will have.” Interestingly, ChatGPT/Open AI also used Johansson’s voice, even though she denied permission.
It was believed that Johansson’s voice would be comforting to AI users and consumers, but after rejecting the offer, OpenAI used the actor’s voice anyway, with Johansson responding, “My friends, family and the general public all noted how much the newest system named ‘Sky’ sounded like me. When I heard the released demo, I was shocked, angered and in disbelief that [they] would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily similar to mine that my closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference.”
ChatGPT quickly removed the voice. Elsewhere, director Ron Howard recently noted how “AI is not going away”, with the Apollo 13 andA Beautiful Mind filmmaker explaining, “It’s a reality. We have to make it a tool. AI is about pulling from the world around, especially the internet.”
However, it’s clear that not everyone is as open to AI as Howard, particularly Freeman and Johansson, who have both fallen victim to its onslaught.
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