1 week ago
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Gayanne Potter is 1 of Britain's astir recognisable voices - down adverts for the likes of Estee Lauder, Apple, LBC radio, and B&Q.
Now, an artificial quality (AI) mentation of her dependable is being utilized connected Scotland's nationalised bid network, ScotRail.
But the nonrecreational voiceover creator says she had nary thought she had been transformed into a robot until a person called her past week.
"I was devastated, I was furious, I consciousness wholly violated," she told Sky News.
"My dependable is my job, and I should beryllium allowed to cognize who I americium moving with and what I americium moving on."
Ms Potter, who lives connected the outskirts of Edinburgh, believes the incidental tin beryllium traced backmost to a occupation she completed during the COVID pandemic with Swedish institution ReadSpeaker, wherever she recorded scripts for the visually impaired.
Ms Potter alleges she was unaware the declaration allowed her dependable to beryllium sold arsenic portion of AI years later.
Sky News has seen correspondence wherever the institution appeared to reassure Ms Potter's agents they "would ne'er merchantability them (the recordings) to anybody else".
Responding to concerns, ReadSpeaker insisted determination was a "very wide contract" that allows it to "use... synthesised voices for businesses and organisations".
ScotRail unveiled its caller AI announcer, nicknamed "Iona", connected committee the railway web successful Scotland this month.
The caller exertion has drawn disapproval for mispronouncing spot names, with officials asking the nationalist to "give it time".
Sky News joined Ms Potter connected committee a bid arsenic she discussed the situation.
She said: "I virtually didn't know. ScotRail ne'er approached me, ReadSpeaker ne'er approached me.
"ScotRail person said it is not a existent person. It is simply a existent person, and I americium close here.
"This is simply a existent threat. I person worked truly hard for the past 20 years and built spot with clients I enactment with. And present to person my dependable successful this dreadful robot is demeaning to me."
She added: "I bash not consent to my dependable information being used. To find retired that my idiosyncratic quality information is being utilized connected the trains is appalling.
"I consciousness similar my information is being burgled. I person nary power implicit it."
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Union Equity, which represents workers successful the originative industries, is helping Ms Potter combat her case.
Liam Budd, concern authoritative for recorded media astatine Equity, said: "It is highly exploitative for companies to usage and commercialise dependable recordings to make integer replicas of artists from contracts which pre-date the improvement of generative AI oregon were not drafted explicitly for this purpose.
"Gayanne is straight competing successful a marketplace with a low-quality clone of her ain dependable that she claims was developed without her informed and explicit consent.
"Not lone is this distressing for her, but it would correspond an infringement of our members' information extortion and different rights."
Roy Lindemann, main selling serviceman astatine ReadSpeaker, dismissed questions from Sky News astir Ms Potter's wishes to retreat her dependable from being sold.
He said the steadfast was alert of Ms Potter's concerns, adding: "ReadSpeaker and Ms Potter person a declaration regarding the usage of her voice.
"ReadSpeaker has comprehensively addressed Ms Potter's concerns with her ineligible typical respective times successful the past."
ScotRail, which is owned by the Scottish government, said it had "no plans" to region its "Iona" AI announcer dependable strategy and rejected questions astir Ms Potter's concerns.
Phil Campbell, ScotRail lawsuit operations director, said: "We are ever looking astatine ways to amended the lawsuit travel experience, and we cognize however important some on-train and at-station announcements are.
"The usage of an automated dependable allows america to person much power implicit the announcements being made, ensures consistency for customers, and gives america flexibility to marque changes astatine abbreviated notice."
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: "While sub-contracts are a substance for ScotRail, the Scottish authorities expects it, arsenic a publically controlled organisation, to guarantee each agreements entered into are wrong the parameters of Public Sector Procurement guidance and conscionable Fair Work principles.
"This includes the usage of AI technology."
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