AI is stealing voice-over jobs, experts warn

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Voice-over experts and Equity have expressed fears that AI will replace entry and low-level voice-over work. Photo: Shutterstock

Voice-over artists have warned that the rise of artificial intelligence is risking their future in the sector and raised concerns that the industry has become "shark infested" by companies using artificial technology.

Voice-over experts and Equity have expressed fears that AI will replace entry and low-level work, including eLearning, interactive voice response and call-waiting work, which could make up a large percentage of income for many voice-over actors.

Voice-over artist Marisa Dargahi warned that jobs that are currently going to amateur talent will most likely go to AI in the future.

"This means it’s more important than ever to perfect your craft. I’m hopeful that AI will create more jobs for voice-over actors.

"The problem is that there will also be a lot of bad AI jobs out there that take advantage of talent. Voice-over actors will have to educate themselves about how to differentiate the good jobs from the bad," she said.
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VoiceOver Network chief executive Rachael Naylor said legislation was not currently protecting voice-over artists.

Naylor said: "People who signed contracts years ago didn’t think AI was going to be a big thing, and now it is.

"It is quite scary that you can take a sample of somebody’s voice online and create voice-overs from that; there is very little protection for us."

She added: "I think what is going to happen is the low-end voice-over jobs are going to be gone: [such as] the telephone on hold, the kind of clients who would go to Fiverr [online marketplace for freelance services] for work.”

Hugh Edwards, chief executive and co-founder of international voice-over platform Gravy for the Brain, has worked with casting in AI since 2012. He said that in the same way that sites such as ChatGPT were able to generate automated text, the same was likely to be possible with voice.

"ChatGPT is based on generating AI through a large language model. AI companies are working on the same kind of principle with voice," he added.

Edwards said the industry should have a model that allowed artists to "lend" their voice through licensing to AI companies, adding: "Unfortunately, what is happening is that there seems there are a lot of sharks who are buying up companies [that had voice-over work attached to them, such as audiobooks] and using the voices without permission for what they were intended for.

"It’s shark infested waters, it was only getting worse."

Equity’s audio and new media official, Liam Budd, described the development of automated digital voice technology as "a real concern for our audio artist members".

"We conducted a survey and 93% of audio artists who responded thought the development of AI technology posed a threat to employment opportunities in the performing arts sector," he said.

He added that the quality of the contracts used to our engage members for AI work was "a huge problem".

"Provisions are often very unclear about usage and simply request that the performer signs away their rights in perpetuity without explaining where or how their professional contribution may be exploited. Some of our members have accepted work to record their voice for data and research purposes for major AI voice developers, to then find out that that they have assigned their rights to the end client who can use their voice and/or likeness beyond the scope of internal data and research, and for commercial ventures," he said.

Equity launched its stop stealing the show campaign to help combat issues with AI in the creative sector and lobby politicians for legislation changes.