David Attenborough 'Profoundly Disturbed' by AI Voice Clones, Calls It Identity Theft

David Attenborough Disgusted by AI Clone of His Voice

After discovering that his voice has been cloned by artificial intelligence, veteran documentarian David Attenborough has been moved to genteel fury. In a new BBC segment, two near-identical clips -- one generated by AI, the other recorded by the twice-knighted man himself -- are heard promoting Attenborough's new special, "Asia." According to host Kasia Madera, the first of the two segments was an AI clone that the broadcaster's researchers found online. The actual Attenborough is less than pleased. "Having spent a lifetime trying to speak what I believe to be the truth," Attenborough told the BBC in a statement, "I am profoundly disturbed to find that these days, my identity is being stolen by others and greatly object to them using it to say whatever they wish." Strangely enough, the AI Attenborough also had a response to the story. "Let's set the record straight. Unless Mr. Attenborough has been moonlighting for us in secret and under an assumed name with work authorization in the United States, he is not on our payroll," the AI voice clone intoned. "I am not David Attenborough. We are both male, British voices for sure. However, I am not David Attenborough, for anyone out there who may be confused." This creepy rebuttal sounded so much like the real thing that Madera suggested the average person would be unable to tell the difference. "You have to really double-take," the host said. "I wouldn't know if I didn't know." Beyond simply being unsettling, this faked Attenborough voice is particularly insidious because of the documentarian's societal role as one of the premier global truth-tellers of the last few generations. In an editorial for The Guardian, columnist Zoe Wiliams suggested that such a lifelike AI rendition of a voice like Sir David's could imperil the concept of truth as we -- or at least, as the Brits -- know it. "Attenborough may not be the last true embodiment of trust in a compromised world, but I row back from that assertion only because I fear it is UK-centric," she opined. "I stand by this: if you can't hear his voice and believe it, then you can't hear or believe anything." "In fake Attenborough, the scam of all scams, we have been casually mugged of modern communication," Williams concluded. Given that the knight's AI voice clone nearly tricked a BBC reporter, we have to say we agree.

Sir David Attenborough 'Profoundly Disturbed' by AI Clones of His Voice - IGN

Sir David Attenborough has issued a strongly worded statement criticizing the many AI voice clones that mimic the world-famous broadcaster, calling it identity theft. A BBC report demonstrated how AI-generated voice clones of the 98-year-old Sir David Attenborough were indistinguishable from the real thing, and could be used to read out the news. In response, Sir David said he was "profoundly disturbed" that AI was being used to have him say pretty much anything. "Having spent a lifetime trying to speak what I believe to be the truth, I am profoundly disturbed to find these days my identity is being stolen by others and greatly object to them using it to say whatever they wish," he said. The emergence of generative AI has brought with it a number of ethical concerns surrounding the impersonation of real people without their permission. AI voice clones are being used to put words into the mouth of celebrities and even recreate the deceased without consent. In the BBC report, Dr Jennifer Williams, a researcher of AI audio at the University of Southampton, expressed concern about the lack of safeguards or a regulatory framework to guarantee an AI-generated voice is uniquely different from a real person's, and the resulting potential for misinformation. "It sounds like Sir David to me," Dr Williams said. "I'm a little disgusted. This is very serious. When you have a trusted voice like Sir David Attenborough who all around the world people recognize him as an authority, as a voice of truth, and then to have words put in his mouth about war, politics and things that he has never said or may not ever endorse, is very concerning." In October 2023, Tom Hanks warned fans that an AI version of his likeness was being used without his consent in an online advert for a dental plan. In May this year, Black Widow actress Scarlett Johansson revealed she had denied a request from OpenAI founder Sam Altman to use her voice as ChatGPT's 'Sky' voice, then was "shocked, angered, and in disbelief" upon hearing a demo for Sky that sounded "eerily similar" to her voice. Johansson then hired legal counsel and asked for an explanation before OpenAI "reluctantly" agreed to remove the ChatGPT voice option. Voice actors have previously called out AI-generated explicit Skyrim mods, and Assassin's Creed Syndicate voice actress Victoria Atkin called AI-generated mods the "invisible enemy we're fighting right now" after discovering her voice was used by cloning software. Paul Eiding, the voice actor behind Colonel Campbell in the Metal Gear Solid series, also condemned its use. Photo by John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images.

David Attenborough is 'profoundly disturbed' by AI voice

His voice is easily recognizable - maybe more so than any other part of him - but, is it really his? Sir David Attenborough is objecting to an AI dupe of his voice, which aired in a BBC segment Sunday. A real-life version of the famed broadcaster's voice was played alongside an artificial intelligence clone of it that reporters had discovered online. The two clips were shockingly similar. The site responsible was not specified, but BBC news host Kasia Madera reported there were several that offered Attenborough imitations. In response, Attenborough told the outlet in a statement, "Having spent a lifetime trying to speak what I believe to be the truth, I am profoundly disturbed to find that these days, my identity is being stolen by others and greatly object to them using it to say whatever they wish." Taylor Swift AI-generated explicitphotos just tip of iceberg for threat of deepfakes The AI version of him then shot back, in a clip also played by the BBC, saying (in Attenborough's voice): "Let's set the record straight. Unless Mr. Attenborough has been moonlighting for us in secret and under an assumed name with work authorization in the United States, he is not on our payroll. I am not David Attenborough. We are both male, British voices for sure. However, I am not David Attenborough, for anyone out there who may be confused." Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. The comparison is part of a growing genre of side-by-sides meant to demonstrate how well artificial intelligence can dupe the average consumer. "I'm very confident in saying that in the long run, it will be impossible to tell the difference between a generated image and a real one," James O'Brien, a computer science professor at the University of California, Berkeley previously told USA TODAY. What is generative AI?Benefits, pitfalls and how to use it in your day-to-day. In the entertainment sphere particularly, where Attenborough has made a name for himself as a documentary narrator, AI has become a major concern. Last year, Tom Hanks warned fans that a company was using an AI version of him to promote a dental plan. When Hollywood actors and writers unions went on strike last summer, AI was a major point of contention. In May, Scarlett Johanson took on the AI giant Sam Altman and his company OpenAI, alleging its ChatGPT product had copied her voice without consent. In a statement provided to USA TODAY at the time, Johansson said Altman had asked her to voice the AI system and she had turned him down but he copied her voice anyway. In October, Julianne Moore, Kevin Bacon and over 10,000 others from creative industries signed an open letter that was just one sentence long: "The unlicensed use of creative works for training generative AI is a major, unjust threat to the livelihoods of the people behind those works, and must not be permitted."

Attack of the David Attenborough AI Clones: 'My Identity Is Being Stolen'

AI-cloned versions of legendary U.K. broadcaster David Attenborough's voice are multiplying online -- and he's not happy about it. "Having spent a lifetime trying to speak what I believe to be the truth," the 98-year-old naturalist and Planet Earth narrator told BBC News, "I'm profoundly disturbed to find that these days my identity is being stolen by others -- and greatly object to them using it to say whatever they wish." BBC News discovered multiple sites offering AI-generated versions of Attenborough's stentorian voice that are often indistinguishable from the real thing, in one case delivering news reports about Donald Trump and NATO -- subject matter far removed from Attenborough's lifetime of nature documentary work. Dr. Jennifer Williams, an AI audio researcher at Southampton University, told BBC News she was deeply worried about the misuse of Attenborough's trusted voice. "When you have a trusted voice [that] people recognize as an authority, as a voice of truth, and then to have words put in his mouth about war, politics and things that he has never said or may not ever endorse -- it's very concerning," she said. The controversy highlights how easily accessible voice cloning technology has become. "Anyone could make a clone of David Attenborough's voice," Williams explained, noting that these tools are freely available online. Some celebrities and their estates have allowed legal use of their voices. A company called ElevenLabs offers licensed versions of Jerry Garcia, Judy Garland, Maya Angelou, Burt Reynolds, James Dean, and Sir Laurence Olivier as narrators for books and articles. The real Attenborough is currently narrating the seven-part BBC series Asia, which explores nature on Earth's largest continent.