![\"SnapInsta.to_780238924_18622204381057743_5231156806824276301_n\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787925851_689_.jpeg\")
\n Around 80 actors have signed the open letter Save Our Voices Now<\/p>\n
SIOBHAN MCSWEENEY AND Nicola Coughlan are among the stars who have backed a campaign against AI voice cloning.<\/p>\n
The Save Our Voices Now campaign has sent an open letter to British prime minister Andy Burnham \u201cdemanding clear, enforceable and legal ownership of their voice\u201d.<\/p>\n
Matt Lucas and Hugh\u00a0Bonneville are also among the close to 80 actors who have added their signatures to the open letter to Burnham.<\/p>\n
Irish actors Denise Gough,\u00a0Niamh Cusack and Fra Fee have also signed the open letter.<\/p>\n
While the letter states that the campaign is not against Artificial Intelligence, it states that backers are \u201copposed to theft\u201d.<\/p>\n
It comes as Denmark is making legal reforms to give its citizens legal ownership over their own face, body and voice, allowing them to demand removal of unauthorised AI content and seek compensation.<\/p>\n
McSweeney said she is \u201cdeeply worried that legislation, contracts, working practices and ethics, and artists\u2019 rights are not being considered or protected as quickly as AI technology is progressing\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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,\u201d added McSweeney.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an existential problem and needs to be controlled legislatively as soon as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy voice is one of my tools.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn order to adapt and move with technological advances, I don\u2019t see why we should remove the human from the equation. Our audiences want that human connection, not AI.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n Around 80 actors have signed the open letter Save Our Voices Now<\/p>\n
Save Our Voices Now\n<\/p>\n
Save Our Voices Now founder Peter Caulfield remarked that \u201cin just three seconds, with the right AI system, your voice can be cloned, stolen and reinterpreted without your knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a Black Mirror episode except this isn\u2019t fiction,\u201d said Caulfield. \u201cIt\u2019s happening right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said David Attenborough\u2019s distinctive voice \u201chas been cloned tens of thousands of times without his consent\u201d.<\/p>\n
Attenborough has previously said he is \u201cprofoundly disturbed to find that these days, my identity is being stolen by others\u201d.<\/p>\n
Caulfield accused these platforms of \u201cstealing artists\u2019 talent, livelihoods and income\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said voice artists and narrators as \u201ceven more vulnerable, without celebrity status to shield them\u201d.<\/p>\n
He added that criminals are \u201cusing AI technology to defraud families and steal identities\u201d and that 28% of UK adults say they\u2019ve been targeted by a voice-cloning scam.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are demanding the UK government give every citizen legal ownership of their own voice,\u201d said Caulfield.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should all have the right to protect our voices from AI voice theft.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caulfield is also calling on the UK government to \u201cplace the legal burden on providing consent for the use of a voice on the platform and AI developer, not the individual\u201d.<\/p>\n
He has also called for this to be \u201cenforceable in UK courts against any platform serving UK users, regardless of where the platform is based\u201d.<\/p>\n
-With additional reporting from Press Association<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SIOBHAN MCSWEENEY AND Nicola Coughlan are among the stars who have backed a campaign against AI voice cloning.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":607297,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[220,85530,218,93,61,60,114642,6762,1577,257321],"class_list":["post-607296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-ai","tag-andy-burnham","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-nicola-coughlan","tag-siobhan-mcsweeney","tag-uk","tag-voice-cloning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}