Nicola Coughlan, Matt Lucas Call for AI Voice Cloning Law

Nicola Coughlan, Matt Lucas and Hugh Bonneville are among the high-profile names backing a new campaign against AI voice cloning.

Titled “Save Our Voices Now,” the initiative calls for greater protections against AI technology being used to replicate a person’s voice, according to The Guardian. The group of over 80 industry names — which also includes Coughlan’s “Derry Girls” co-star Siobhán McSweeney, “The Hobbit” actor Luke Evans, comedian Jen Brister and “Doctor Who’s” Pearl Mackie — is asking for U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham to introduce legislation giving every person in the country the right to their own voice.

The campaign was co-founded by audiobook narrator Alice Sockett, who said in a statement (via BBC News) that the issue poses “an existential threat to our entire industry” and voice theft “increases every week.”

“My voice is unique, it’s mine, it’s part of my identity. So is yours. That’s worth speaking up about,” said “Paddington” and “Downton Abbey” star Bonneville, adding that his “quote was handwritten, not created by AI.”

McSweeney said: “I’m deeply worried that legislation, contracts, working practices and ethics, and artists’ rights are not being considered or protected as quickly as AI technology is progressing. I believe that there is a way to work alongside AI and to use it as a tool that benefits us rather than rendering us obsolete. This is an existential problem and needs to be controlled legislatively as soon as possible. My voice is one of my tools.”

She continued, “In order to adapt and move with technological advances, I don’t see why we should remove the human from the equation. Our audiences want that human connection. Not AI.”

AI voice cloning has increasingly become a hot-button topic within the wider entertainment industry. Some actors have taken steps to protect their voices from being recreated after their deaths, including “The Simpsons” star Harry Shearer, who told Variety last month that he had “talked to legal people about it” and thinks it’s a “good idea.” On the other hand, some have viewed it as a way for their legacies to live on. Recently, Gene Wilder’s estate gave its blessing for his voice to be recreated in order to narrate a new Netflix “Willy Wonka” reality series.

“We are delighted that ‘Wonka’s the Golden Ticket’ celebrates the warmth and imagination that he brought to the role, introducing that magic to a new generation while honoring the fans who have cherished it for decades,” Wilder’s wife, Karen B. Wilder, said in a statement.