Two voice actors are suing an artificial intelligence startup in a proposed federal class motion lawsuit for violating trademark legal guidelines, to coach their AI.
Paul Skey Lehrman and Linnea Sage have been employed by Lovo, an AI company, again in 2019 and 2020 to offer voice clips for what they have been instructed could be inside analysis.
“On three occasions in writing they had given me assurances of how and where it would be used for internal purposes only and never forward facing,” Lehrman stated.
But two years later, Lehrman stated he was shocked when he heard his voice on a YouTube video and later a podcast that he by no means recorded.
“My voice is out there saying things that I’ve never said in places that I haven’t agreed to be a part of,” he stated. “We are now in a science fiction come true.”
Shock turned to outrage when the actors dug deeper. They stated the startup cloned each Lehrman and Sage’s voices, breaching their respective contracts.
Lovo advertises an “AI voice cloning tool” the place customers can add or document an audio pattern that will get become a customized voice clone. Experts say there are not any federal legal guidelines overlaying the usage of AI to imitate somebody’s voice.
“We need federal AI likeness protection, and we needed it yesterday,” stated Ryan Schmidt of Bowen Law Group. “We need a uniform statutory scheme that’s gonna protect not only public figures and celebrities, but just about every person and citizen of America, because AI can clone and replicate anybody.”
Lehrman and Sage stated their voices are their livelihoods, now being stolen by AI.
“I have such an incredibly pessimistic view of the future of voiceover,” Sage stated. “So far this year to date I’ve lost 75% of the work that I would’ve normally done up until now. And I am expecting that to get worse.”
“This is about protecting individuals who have a voice that can be exploited,” Lehrman added. “And unfortunately that’s everyone and anyone.”
Lovo didn’t reply to CBS News’ a number of requests for remark.
Lehrman and Sage’s battle is the newest regarding AI. In May, actress Scarlett Johansson was “shocked, angered and in disbelief” after OpenAI’s ChatGPT appeared like her. Johansson had declined OpenAI founder Sam Altman’s provide to voice ChatGPT’s text-to-speech product. Altman stated the voice just isn’t Johansson’s.
AI was a key difficulty within the SAG-AFTRA strike final 12 months. A brand new actor contract contains limits on synthetic intelligence. Producers for TV and movie should get consent from actors to make use of a digital reproduction. They’re additionally entitled to compensation for this use.
