More than 80 performers have signed an open letter demanding legislative action. Derry Girls actor Siobhán McSweeney expressed deep concern that the government is falling behind on this critical issue.
“There is a way to work alongside AI and to use it as a tool that benefits us rather than rendering us obsolete,” she said.
“Our audiences want that human connection. Not AI.”
The coalition extends beyond actors to include professionals from other performing industries.
That includes Scottish singer Sandi Thom, known for her 2006 hit I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair).
Thom stated she was signing the letter because her voice was “unique to me and was handed to me at birth”.
“Behind that voice is the emotion, the life, the pain, the tears and joy that I’ve felt along the way,” she said.
“Without creativity, we are nothing.”
This initiative comes after legal experts warned that current UK legislation has become “unfit for purpose” due to rapid advancements in AI technology.
“The law comes close, but it doesn’t fully protect your voice, your face or your identity,” Dr Mathilde Pavis said in June.
However, some individuals—particularly those unable to speak properly due to illness—have welcomed technology that can replicate a person’s voice.
Yvonne Johnson, who lost her voice due to motor neurone disease, told the BBC’s Tech Life programme in February how having it cloned by AI had “totally blown her mind” and brought her closer to her family, who had forgotten what she sounded like.
Others have gone a step further and used AI not only to replicate a person’s voice, but to create a holographic representation of them.
Pam Cronrath, from Washington state, used the technology to surprise mourners at her husband’s funeral, where a digital version of her deceased partner addressed those who attended his wake.
“I was completely impressed,” she told BBC News. “It stayed with me.”
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