In an interesting development, AI startup ElevenLabs has announced that it will be able to narrate various forms of digital text in the voices of revered late actors, including Judy Garland and James Dean.
You may be familiar with the name ElevenLabs. Earlier this year, the company made headlines after its technology was used to discourage voters in New Hampshire from voting with robocalls that imitated the voice of President Joe Biden. CBS News.
Following the controversy surrounding its ChatGPT technology, and in particular OpenAI's imitation of Scarlett Johansson's voice, ElevenLabs proactively obtained the rights to use the actors' voices from their estates.
“We deeply respect their work and are honored to have their voices as part of our platform,” said Dustin Blank, head of partnerships at ElevenLabs.
“Adding them to our growing list of narrators marks a major step towards our mission to make content accessible in every language and voice.”
It doesn't take much for an AI to learn to speak like someone else
ElevenLabs has partnered with the estates of Hollywood legends Judy Garland, James Dean, Sir Laurence Olivier and Burt Reynolds to enable its Reader app to use these famous voices to read newsletters, PDFs, e-books and other text on your phone, using audio sources already available.
According to CNN, Because AI technology learns from old recordings, it makes it relatively easy to replicate audio, even from copyrighted recordings.
In addition, experts CNN AI models have become so advanced that they can learn the human voice without requiring much input.
“There's very little that's needed to capture tone and manner of speech and other elements,” Byrne Elliott was quoted as saying. Legal frameworks will therefore be important as AI models become increasingly integrated into everyday life.
AI brings the big screen to the small screen
As the ease of voice cloning has become clear, ElevenLabs has sought to position itself as an ethical player, addressing an uncertain market for celebrity voices and concerns about authenticity in an increasingly digital world.
Meanwhile, a professor at Northwestern University's School of Communication said there's a market for celebrities to read audiobooks aloud, suggesting such AI models could create opportunities for the audio industry.
However, as these technologies continue to evolve, the use of an actor's voice, even if that actor is deceased, remains within legal bounds, requiring a formal and transparent process.
Notably, AI was a major point of contention during last year's SAG-AFTRA strike, which led to new contracts restricting the use of AI, reportedly requiring Hollywood to compensate actors if AI generates their “virtual likeness” or voice.
The small screen has almost become the big screen
Because AI is a relatively new technology, its governance remains unclear, but ElevenLabs has outlined a legitimate course of action: The compensation the heirs will receive will remain confidential, but ElevenLabs said, “The heirs will receive significant amounts from licenses and contracts.” CNN.
On the positive side, Judy Garland's daughter, Liza Minnelli, expressed her excitement that her mother's voice will be heard by millions of fans.. This makes the smaller screen a little wider than the larger one.
About the Editor
Maria Mocerino A Los Angeles native, Maria Mocherino has had articles published in Business Insider, The Irish Examiner, The Rogue Mag, Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines, and now Interesting Engineering.
