One of the main concerns about artificial intelligence has long been that it will kill jobs by taking over work that people do today. That fear has been exacerbated by exploding interest in generative AI tools that can create essays, images, and music through simple text prompts. OpenAI’s ChatGPT, a buzzy chatbot introduced a few months ago, is a prime example, but there are many others.
So far, the workers have not lost their jobs because of the device. But many fear that day is not far off—just ask the voice actors. There is an AI tool that can make famous voices seem to say what with minimal effort by the user. Last month, Microsoft researchers showed off a text-to-speech AI tool that can mimic anyone’s voice after being fed three seconds of audio from them.
this week, The rest of the worlda non-profit publication that covers technology “beyond the Western bubble,” reported on an AI dubbing company that hired voice actors in Latin America to train algorithms-with an eye toward eventually replacing voice actors as used in commercials, cartoons, movies, news segments, and so on.
But in this case, job loss is not only theoretical. As The rest of the world report, it is happening. The publication interviewed Argentinian voice actor Alejandro Graue, who discovered last month that an AI-generated voice had replaced him in a video for his self-improvement YouTube channel that had previously been voice-recorded.
Graue recalled a technician on the channel telling him that using AI voice was cheaper than paying the rate. Graue released an angry tweet directed not at the AI technology, but at the voice actors who helped train the tool: “Thank you to all the actors and actresses who gave their voices to make this shit that will eventually make us all obsolete.”
One of the voice actors is talking to The rest of the world, asked to remain anonymous, described the “marathon” recording sessions he took part in. “Over the course of an hour, he made us record a lot of loose words and letters in different styles and tones.” Others said they were asked to sign agreements that would prevent them from claiming a share of the company’s ownership “vote bank” in the future.
Graue told the publication that he had also been offered an algorithm training course in his hometown of Buenos Aires, starting a few months ago. “When they offered me the gig, they told me I had to record 10,000 words and they would pay me 10,000 pesos. [about $52 at the official exchange rate].”
Among the companies offering AI dubbing in Spanish are Tel Aviv-based Deepdub, which focuses on films and TV shows, and London-based Papercup, which specializes in non-fiction content such as news from the BBC, according to The rest of the world.
Of course, voice actors aren’t the only professionals struggling with the changes in the field brought about by AI
Editors at an American sci-fi magazine Clarkesworld recently stopped accepting submissions of stories after discovering that many of those recently submitted by writers have, in fact, been created by AI Some professors prohibit the use of ChatGPT in the name of academic integrity, while others require it because they consider knowing how to use AI to be an emerging skill. JPMorgan, for its part, recently told employees that their use of ChatGPT is off-limits.
The example of Latin American voice actors can be seen, because it directly affects the workers, although other voice actors cooperate with AI dubbing companies that put their future jobs at risk.
Learn how to navigate and build trust in your business with The Trust Factor, a weekly newsletter that examines what leaders need to succeed. Log in here.