CNN
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Actress Judy Garland never recorded her voice reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz audiobook, but you'll soon be able to hear her rendition of the children's novel that inspired the film nonetheless.
Earlier this week, AI company ElevenLabs said it was bringing digitally-generated Celebrity voiceovers from deceased actors including Garland, James Dean and Burt Reynolds on its newly launched reader app. The app takes articles, PDFs, e-pubs, newsletters, e-books or any other text on your phone and turns it into voiceover, the company said.
“We deeply respect his legacy and are proud to have his voice as part of our platform,” said Dustin Blank, Head of Partnerships at ElevenLabs. “Adding them to our growing list of narrators is a big step in our mission to make content accessible in any language and voice.”
The company said it made deals with the estates of the actors whose voices are being used, but did not share details about compensation. This effort demonstrates the potential of artificial intelligence. Hollywood also sets a precedent for licensing and working with status. It also comes at a time when technology has advanced rapidly, particularly in the ability to create images, text and sound, making it easy for anyone to create a version of someone's voice that matches their voice. has never done
As a result, creative industries like journalism and film have raised questions about how artificial intelligence can—or should—be used.
ElevenLabs made headlines earlier this year when its tool was allegedly used by President Joe Biden to make fake robocalls urging people not to vote in New Hampshire's presidential primary. .
Questions of Copyright and Authenticity
The partnership with the stars' properties comes two months after ChatGPT maker OpenAI came under fire after it introduced an artificial voice that closely resembled Scarlett Johansson's character in the movie “Her.” Johansson said in a statement shared with CNN that she was “shocked, angry and in disbelief” that the company would use her likeness. When he turned down an opportunity to partner with OpenAI.
Although a person cannot copyright their own voice, it is possible to copyright a recording, according to David Gunkel, a professor of communication at Northern Illinois University who tracks AI in media and entertainment. are The AI is trained on old recordings and those recordings are under copyright.
“ElevenLabs” New partnerships are within the scope of what the law allows,” he said. “An estate will get a lot of money from licensing and contracts. It's not unlike a company negotiating a copyright deal to use a famous Queen song in an ad. A record company can in theory say no, no matter how much money they are offered.
AI models can now be trained on fewer audio recordings, said Bern Elliott, vice president and analyst at market research firm Gartner. It takes very little to capture accents, speech patterns and other elements, whether for a celebrity or an everyday person.
“The big concern is determining what the owner of those recordings can or can't do to monetize the sound,” he said.
Media companies are also expanding their use of AI for voiceover. Last week, NBC announced it was bringing an AI-version of popular sportscaster Al Michaels to the Olympics this summer, in daily recaps on its Peacock streaming platform. An NBC spokesperson told CNN that Michaels is being compensated for his involvement.
However, it is unclear how AI versions of well-known voices will be received by mass audiences and whether this will raise concerns about authenticity.
“We don't yet know the perceived market for this kind of thing, but you can already see with audiobooks that are read by recognizable voices and celebrities,” Gunkel said. There's something hot.” “If a celebrity has a way to do all kinds of content and not voice it themselves, that can make the market even wider.”