According to Fast Company, ElevenLabs is now creating official AI voice clones of celebrities including Michael Caine and Matthew McConaughey with their consent. The New York-based company, founded in 2022, initially developed its technology for dubbing movies and audiobooks while preserving vocal emotions. Just months after its January 2023 public release, the company acknowledged seeing “an increasing number of voice cloning misuse cases” and promised safeguards. Despite these measures, a digital consultant successfully used ElevenLabs’ software in 2024 to create fake Joe Biden robocalls targeting New Hampshire voters. The company now claims it has additional protections to block unauthorized cloning of celebrity voices.
The consent dilemma
Here’s the thing about voice cloning technology – it’s advancing faster than our ability to regulate it. ElevenLabs started with noble intentions, wanting to help content creators dub audio while keeping the original voice’s emotional qualities intact. But the genie’s out of the bottle now. When you can replicate someone’s voice with just a few minutes of audio sample, where do you draw the line between legitimate use and potential harm?
When AI voices hit politics
The Joe Biden robocall incident wasn’t just a theoretical concern – it actually impacted an election. Thousands of voters received calls with what sounded like the president telling them to skip the primary. That’s not just creepy, it’s potentially dangerous for democracy. And this happened after ElevenLabs said they’d implemented safeguards. Makes you wonder how effective these protections really are, doesn’t it?
Who owns a voice?
Now we’re seeing the pendulum swing back toward control. By working directly with celebrities like Caine and McConaughey, ElevenLabs is trying to create an authorized pathway for voice cloning. But here’s my question – what about the rest of us? If they can successfully block unauthorized celebrity voice cloning, does that mean regular people’s voices are still fair game? The broader implications for audio authenticity are staggering when you think about it.
Where this is heading
I think we’re looking at a future where your voice becomes another form of intellectual property that needs protection. We’ll probably see voice watermarking, legal frameworks around voice ownership, and more sophisticated detection systems. The authorized celebrity clones are just the beginning. Basically, we’re entering an era where hearing might not be believing anymore. And that’s going to require some serious adjustments to how we consume media and verify information.
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