David Attenborough, the legendary natural history presenter, is rallying against artificial intelligence – unauthorized cloning specifically.
The broadcaster and naturalist said he was “deeply disturbed” after receiving notice from the BBC that his voice had been cloned by artificial intelligence creators.
The situation arose when BBC News ran an article using voiceover from Attenborough's latest BBC series, Asia. “If you think you've seen the best the natural world has to offer, think again,” he says in the clip. “There's no other place on Earth with so many untold stories. Then welcome to Asia.”
The BBC then played the same clip and asked viewers if they could hear any differences. The evidence: They sounded almost identical, but the second was an AI-generated capture of the tone of his voice.
The cloned audio is said to be used in news reports on YouTube channels such as The Intellectualist on issues such as the Ukraine-Russia war and Donald Trump.
Attenborough told the BBC: “Having spent my life trying to tell what I believe to be the truth, I am extremely disturbed to find these days that my identity is being stolen by others and I strongly object to them using it to say what they want.”
The creator of Attenborough's clone play responded, again using his voice, saying: “Let us set the record straight. Unless Mr. Attenborough is secretly working for us, under an assumed name with a work permit in the United States, he is not on our payroll. I I'm not David Attenborough We're both British male voices, sure, but I'm not David Attenborough to anyone who might be confused.
AI versions of Attenborough's instantly recognizable voice have appeared in recent months on sites such as YouTube, layered over content he clearly had no involvement in making. While those who create the clones don't think there's any harm in extracting voices to create near-perfect versions of public figures, many believe it violates copyright and privacy.
In the United States, the issue of doppelgangers last year led to the creation of the bipartisan Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe, or Counterfeiting Prevention, Act, which would hold those who do the cloning accountable for their actions. It was introduced as a bill in August.
Artificial intelligence was among the most pressing issues in the writers' and actors' labor strikes. Earlier this year, an OpenAI voice called “Sky” was pulled shortly after its release after Scarlett Johansson objected to the likeness of her voice. She issued a statement saying that OpenAI founder Sam Altman approached her about using her voice, and she went ahead with the plan despite declining the offer. She added that the company “reluctantly” removed the audio once it threatened legal action.
We reached out to Attenborough's representatives, but they declined to comment further.
Asia is a series of seven concerts for BBC One and iPlayer launched on 3 November. It is produced by the Natural History Unit at BBC Studios, and co-produced by BBC America, France Télévisions and ZDF.
