Matt Lucas is among scores of stars calling for safeguards against artificial intelligence (AI) being use to replicate voices without consent.
The Save Our Voices Now campaign, which is also backed by actors Hugh Bonneville, Nicola Coughlan, and Luke Evans, aims to stop new technology being misused.
The campaign backed by Jewish comedy star Lucas calls on Andy Burnham to introduce legislation giving everyone in Britain legal ownership of their voice and supports a Gov.uk petition calling for voice ownership to become a statutory right.
As well as starring in comedy hits Little Britain and Come Fly With Me plus Hollywood blockbusters including Wonka and Gladiator II, Lucas has also used his distinctive voice for animated features, among them Gnomeo And Juliet and The Queen’s Corgi.
AI voice cloning can create digital replicas by training technology on recordings of real people. Basic clones can reportedly be produced from only a few seconds of audio, while more sophisticated versions may require hours of recordings.
Downton Abbey star Bonneville said: “My voice is unique, it’s mine, it’s part of my identity. So is yours. That’s worth speaking up about.”
Derry Girls actress Siobhan McSweeney, also a signatory, said she was concerned that legislation, contracts, working practices and artists’ rights were failing to keep pace with advances in AI.
“There is a way to work alongside AI and to use it as a tool that benefits us rather than rendering us obsolete,” she said, adding: “Our audiences want that human connection. Not AI.”
Campaign founder Peter Caulfield described voice cloning as an urgent threat, arguing that voices could be copied and exploited without their owners’ knowledge. The campaign claims that 28 per cent of UK adults have been targeted by a voice-cloning scam.
Audiobook narrator and campaign co-founder Alice Sockett said voice theft was increasing and described the technology as “an existential threat” to the industry.
A government spokesperson told the BBC that, while “digital replicas can be a powerful tool, including for the creative industries,” there was also possibility for harm.
“We value and protect human creators, and that is why we have announced we will launch a consultation on how we address these harms, while protecting legitimate innovation,” the spokesperson said.
The campaign comes as Denmark moves to strengthen legal protections over citizens’ faces, bodies and voices, including the ability to demand removal of unauthorised AI-generated content and seek compensation.
However, supporters of voice-cloning technology say it can have important benefits.
People who have lost their ability to speak, including those affected by motor neurone disease, have used AI-generated replicas to communicate in a voice familiar to themselves and their families.
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