'A new frontier' or a 'predatory practice'?: Melania Trump uses AI imitation to narrate memoir
The First Lady of the United States, Melania Trump, has released an audiobook of her memoir. But although the book sounds like it is narrated by Mrs Trump, it is actually voiced entirely by Artificial Intelligence. It is thought to be the first time a living author has used an AI of their own voice to narrate their book, in favour of performing it themselves.
Announcing the book's release, the first lady said she was "proud to be at the forefront of publishing's new frontier – the intersection of artificial intelligence technology and audio".
The audiobook is being sold through her official website and also through the audio publishing company ElevenLabs, with whom Mrs Trump developed her AI voice under "strict supervision".
Speaking to ITV News, an ElevenLabs spokesperson said they were "excited that Melania Trump trusted our technology to power this first-of-its-kind, multilingual, digitally narrated audiobook."
Whilst currently only available in English, the company added that listeners around the world will shortly be able to hear Mrs Trump's AI voice reading her memoir in 30 different languages, including Spanish, Portugese and Hindi.
ElevenLabs own the rights to several deceased celebrities voices, which can be used in their app to read any content such as books, articles and newsletters currently held in their library. These voices include actors like James Dean, Judy Garland and Burt Reynolds.
It is not the first time AI voices of celebrities, both alive and dead, have been created. But it is thought to be the first time a living author has used an artificial version of their own voice to narrate their work.
The use of AI in voice narration is an issue of contention for the industry.
In 2023, the American actor's union SAG-AFTRA staged a strike in which the use of actor's voices and likenesses by AI formed a central part of discussions.
Speaking to ITV News, TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak, stressed the issue was about choice and consent.
"Melania Trump was given the choice to use an AI model to imitate her voice and narrate her book," he said.
"That choice is not being given to other workers. Instead, companies are using AI models to steal the work of creatives.
'Actors, writers, singers are not being offered recognition or payment when their work, voice and likeness is being ripped off.
'This predatory practice is contributing to the erosion of our creative industries – which are so vital to our economy and culture.
'That's why we need clear and enforceable mechanisms including consent, payment and licensing for creative works used in AI, and why we need and transparency requirements to disclose what data AI models have been trained on."
Despite concerns, the use of AI to narrate audiobooks is a growing practice and one already being deployed by major audiobook providers like Google Play and Spotify, the latter having partnered with the same company offering Melania Trump's AI audiobook.
Last week Amazon-owned Audible announced plans to offer AI narration tools to audiobook publishers, with over 100 AI-generated voices to choose from.
Speaking to ITV News, an Audible spokesperson said: "Audiobooks remain the fastest-growing format in publishing worldwide, but just a fraction of books are available as audiobooks.
"Audible continues to see growing demand from publishers/creators and from listeners who want more titles in more languages. Currently only 2-5% of books are available as audiobooks. "
Echoing this sentiment, Audible CEO Bon Carrigan said: 'Audible believes that AI represents a momentous opportunity to expand the availability of audiobooks with the vision of offering customers every book in every language, alongside our continued investments in premium original content.
'We'll be able to bring more stories to life — helping creators reach new audiences while ensuring listeners worldwide can access extraordinary books that might otherwise never reach their ears.'
Nevertheless, many in the entertainment industry remain unconvinced.
Equity, the UK union representing voice actors and other artistic talent, told ITV News this practice raised real concerns of "job displacement by this new technology".
An Equity spokesperson went on to add: 'Audible had previously worked with Equity on a diversity and inclusion initiative to improve access for actors from underrepresented groups to the profession of audiobook narration.
"However, the increased use of AI will have the opposite effect, by restricting work in audiobooks for artists across the board.
'To generate AI voice narration, a performer's voice is needed. In which case, companies utilising this technology must ensure proper remuneration, consent and transparency around usage for performers.
"We have written to Audible and other companies calling on them to guarantee this by engaging with Equity to deliver union agreements to protect performers working in this area.'
In response, Audible told ITV News: "Any use of AI-generated voice technology involving a narrator's voice is done with their explicit consent and involvement. Narrators maintain control over how their voice is used and which projects they choose to participate in and are compensated for their work."
Last year, actor Scarlet Johansson claimed OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, ripped off her voice with their latest AI product after she rejected an offer from the company to officially voice the AI just nine months earlier.
After releasing the similar sounding software OpenAI's founder Sam Altman tweeted the word "her", seen widely as a reference to the film "Her" in which Johansson voices the AI love interest of the main character.
OpenAI denied the intentional similarity and eventually withdrew the product.
OpenAI's now withdrawn voice "Sky" which the actor Scarlet Johansson claimed was similar to her own. Credit: Youtube / @VictorMochere
Outside of entertainment, AI recreations of recognisable figures have caused controversies in other ways.
Recognisable faces from ITV News including Presenter Mary Nightingale and Political Editor Robert Peston have both had AI manipulated videos of themselves created for malicious purposes.
More widely, AI fakes have often been used to mislead the public in elections and even to the potential benefit of politicians on the campaign trail.
More recently, several living celebrities lent their voices to Meta's AI chatbots, including John Cena and Dame Judy Dench.
Despite promises these chatbots would include safeguards to prevent inappropriate use, an investigation by the Wall Street Journal found these celeb avatars were easily engaged in sexualised and inappropriate conversations using the actor's voices.
Melania Trump released her memoir "Melania" in October 2024.
This new AI audio version comes less than a week after she championed a bill that targets malicious AI fakes online.
Whilst celebrities and politicians frequently use ghost writers to help complete their memoirs, when it comes to the audiobook they usually choose to narrate them themselves.
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