Tech's moving at light speed, and while generative AI images have been blowing up, now we're seeing a wild new trend: AI voice learning. Hand over a voice to AI, and it can churn out new content in that exact same tone. The catch? It's creating a massive headache for voice actors and sound pros everywhere.
Veteran voice actor Megumi Ogata, a vocal supporter of the "NOMORE Unauthorized AI Generation" movement, dropped some serious thoughts on X yesterday (9/25). She's speaking out against "AI voice services for the deceased," slamming the tech that brings back voices from beyond the grave. And yeah, the internet is listening.
Ogata kicked things off by quoting a news headline that hit hard: "Bringing back a wife lost to cancer with AI... 'I want to apologize for not catching it sooner as a doctor.' Is 'AI for the deceased' even ethical? Should people state their wishes beforehand?"
Her message was crystal clear: "...Let me say it again: I absolutely do not want my voice used after I'm gone. Remember the real me, the one who stood before you, and the voices I left in my work—let that be my legacy, forever."
Then, in a follow-up post, she dropped some hard-hitting questions:
"Let's say you *could* bring back a loved one with AI. How long would you actually live with that AI? Could you really shell out 300,000 yen every single year for maintenance? Could you stomach that smile—so close, yet always just a little *off*? When you finally hit that wall, realizing you can't share a future with them anymore, could you be the one to flip the switch and turn it off? Because eventually, you'll have to." Her ultimate point? "Respecting their final wishes should always trump our own selfish desires."
As a voice actor, Ogata is treading carefully when it comes to AI recreating her voice. She elaborated: "'AI recreation' isn't just a voice actor problem; it's about *everyone's* dignity. Think of it like organ donation: whether your likeness or voice can be used should be decided by you, in advance. This is going to be a huge deal for everyone down the line." Clearly, she's not on board with AI-generated voices and is pushing for governments to step up and lay down some legal ground rules.
Her posts blew up, sparking a ton of discussion. Some critics even slammed the whole trend, saying, "Generative AI business today feels like grave robbing. It's just sad and disrespectful to the dead." So, when it comes to bringing back the departed, is it a case of lonely hearts needing a connection, or just plain old greed from the living, weaponizing tech for their own ends?
Let's be real: the "AI voice recreation" problem has been escalating big time lately. What if someone's voice gets snagged and used for a crime? Right now, there's zero legal ground to prosecute. Copyright law just doesn't have clauses covering voices, so chasing down legal responsibility is a no-go. Basically, we're all kinda powerless.
How to rein in this wild west of tech? That's a question governments worldwide *need* to start taking seriously.