Morgan Freeman criticizes artificial intelligence’s voice imitations and thanks fans for tips

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Morgan Freeman sent a thank you message to his fans on Friday morning, expressing gratitude for users’ efforts to denounce unauthorized AI imitations of the actor’s recognizable voice.

The acclaimed 87-year-old actor has become a legend for his voice acting roles in films such as March of the Penguins, The Shawshank Redemption and Million Dollar Baby. The stellar reputation of Freeman’s voice has made him a particularly popular target of AI-generated voice impersonations, including in a recent viral series of TikToks created by a woman posing as the actor’s “Nepo niece.” Freeman is not a fan of the practice.

“Thank you to my incredible fans for their vigilance and support in exposing the unauthorized use of an AI voice impersonating me,” the actor wrote. “Your efforts help ensure that authenticity and integrity remain a top priority. I am grateful. #AI #Fraud #Imitation #IdentityProtection”

There was no further comment from Freeman.

The actress’ comments come at a time when AI impersonations in the entertainment industry are under scrutiny. Scarlett Johansson’s legal team recently called on OpenAI to disclose how it developed its personal AI voice assistant Sky and to remove the chatbot because it sounds very similar to her own voice. Johansson said she was approached by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman last September with a request to use her voice for a conversational form of ChatGPT, but she declined for “personal reasons.” The actress said last month she was “shocked, angry and in disbelief” that the AI ​​company used a voice very similar to hers after she refused to work with them.

Altman also reportedly contacted her agent two days before the demo version of the voice assistant was released and asked her to reconsider. The company suspended the use of the voice assistant but stated that the voice was not an imitation of Johansson.

In April, Drake also came under fire from Tupac Shakur’s estate for using an AI impersonation of the West Coast rapper dissing Kendrick Lamar in his song “Taylor Made Freestyle.” Howard King, who represents Shakur’s estate, sent Drake a cease-and-desist letter, saying the song was a “blatant abuse of the legacy of one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time.”

The song also uses an AI-generated verse from Snoop Dogg, who vaguely addressed the situation in an Instagram video on April 20, saying, “They did what? When? How? Are y’all sure? Have a good night, everybody.” Drake took the record down on April 26, a week after its release.

While Hollywood is pushing Congress to take action against AI, it is unclear what laws will be passed to control the technology.