Latest news with #voiceover
The Independent
28-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Voiceover artist claims her voice is being used on ScotRail's AI-generated announcements without permission
A voiceover artist is claiming her voice is being used for ScotRail 's AI-generated announcements without her permission, and says she feels 'violated' by the experience. Gayanne Potter, whose voice is ITN's 'Voice of God' and the Female Station Voice for Heart Scotland, said she was unaware her voice had been made into an artificial intelligence version used on Scotland's nationalised train network. ScotRail revealed its new AI announcer, called "Iona", this month. The technology and sound has already faced criticism from voiceover artists and passengers, and ScotRail is urging customers to 'give it time'. But now, Potter says the Swedish technology firm ReadSpeaker used her voice to train their models after completing a job for them during the Covid pandemic. "I was devastated, I was furious, I feel completely violated," she told Sky News. "My voice is my job, and I should be allowed to know who I am working with and what I am working on." Potter alleges she was unaware that her contract for her work with ReadSpeaker permitted her voice to be sold to be used as AI. Speaking to Sky News, she explained: "I literally didn't know. ScotRail never approached me, ReadSpeaker never approached me. "ScotRail have said it is not a real person. It is a real person, and I am right here. "This is a real threat. I have worked really hard for the past 20 years and built trust with clients I work with. And now to have my voice in this dreadful robot is demeaning to me." "I do not consent to my voice data being used. To find out that my personal human data is being used on the trains is appalling. "I feel like my data is being burgled. I have no control over it,' she said. ReadSpeaker produces AI-powered text-to-speech voices for more than 12,000 companies but says it uses 'authorised voice recordings' for its catalog of more than 200 lifelike voices in over 50 languages. Responding to the complaints, the tech firm told Sky News: "ReadSpeaker is aware of Ms Potter's concerns, and has comprehensively addressed these with Ms Potter's legal representative several times in the past." Potter's case has been taken up by Union Equity, a performing arts and entertainment trade union. "It is extremely exploitative for companies to use and commercialise voice recordings to create digital replicas of artists from contracts which pre-date the development of generative AI or were not drafted explicitly for this purpose,' Liam Budd, industrial official for recorded media at Equity, told Sky News. ScotRail said it had "no plans" to remove its "Iona" AI announcer, according to Sky News. Phil Campbell, ScotRail customer operations director, told Sky News: "We are always looking at ways to improve the customer journey experience, and we know how important both on-train and at-station announcements are. "The use of an automated voice allows us to have more control over the announcements being made, ensures consistency for customers, and gives us flexibility to make changes at short notice."
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Actress claims ScotRail AI use her voice 'like something out of Black Mirror'
A Scottish voice over artist has claimed ScotRail's new AI train announcer uses her voice without her consent. Gayanne Potter claimed Iona is based off recordings she made in 2021, leaving her feeling "violated" and out of control. The government-owned train operator recently rolled out 'Iona', an AI voice on some routes, which replaced older messages recorded by a human, the Daily Record reports. READ MORE: Edinburgh man's warning as 'avian parasite' leaves him trapped in his flat READ MORE: Flight diverted to Edinburgh Airport amid 'unforeseen operational reasons' Now in a widely-shared Facebook post, Ms Potter said ScotRail is dismissing her concerns – asking the company: 'Why continue to choose a dreadful AI version of me when I'm right here?' The actress said she has been in dispute with a Sweden-based company called Readspeaker about the use of her voice data following recordings she made for them in 2021. Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages. She alleges these recordings were made to provide text-to-speech for translation purposes, and their later use in an AI model called 'Iona' went beyond their agreement. However, Readspeaker says they have a contract to use her voice and their legal team has 'comprehensively' addressed her concerns. Ms Potter's post read: 'I approached the company and expressed my distress at this, as it was far removed from what I believe I signed up for. 'I requested them to cease using my data. They refused. 'Their legal team simply shut down conversations.' The voiceover artist says she received only a 'minimal' fee for the initial work, which she offered to repay to have the data deleted. Her post continues: 'So imagine my distress when I discover that ScotRail have installed the Readspeaker model 'Iona' that contains my biometric voice data as their new announcer on all their trains. 'I did not know. I was not asked. I did not consent.' Ms Potter said she felt 'violated', and argued: 'ScotRail should employ a real human irrespective of who it is.' Referring to a particular station to the north of Glasgow, she said: 'Why continue to choose a dreadful AI version of me when I'm right here… 'And I know how to pronounce Milngavie.' Speaking to the PA news agency on Tuesday, Ms Potter said she is seeking 'an apology from ScotRail and an acknowledgement they have made a mistake'. She said her 'stomach dropped and I felt sick' when she first saw reports of Iona being used on Scottish trains. Ms Potter has now listened to an altered version of her own voice speaking to her on trains, adding: 'I've had people say to me 10 times that this is like an episode of Black Mirror.' The actress argued that use of her voice data for an AI model was not something she could have consented to when she first made the recordings, saying: 'I fully accept that technology has moved on (from 2021) but the right thing to do is to revisit a contract.' Support for her position has been 'incredible', she said, calling for politicians to bring in legislation making it illegal to use AI to impersonate someone without their consent. A spokesman for Readspeaker told the PA news agency: 'Readspeaker is aware of Ms Potter's concerns. 'Readspeaker and Ms Potter have a contract regarding the use of her voice. 'Readspeaker has comprehensively addressed Ms Potter's concerns with her legal representative several times in the past.' Sign up for Edinburgh Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox Phil Campbell, ScotRail Customer Operations Director, said: 'We are always looking at ways to improve the customer journey experience, and we know how important both on-train and at-station announcements are. 'The use of an automated voice allows us to have more control over the announcements being made, ensures consistency for customers, and gives us flexibility to make changes at short notice. 'ScotRail has always used automated announcements in relation to customer information, but it doesn't replace human interaction through either with pre-recorded audio or staff on trains – something that will continue. 'We are working closely with Network Rail and other train operating companies to continue making improvements across Scotland's Railway, and we are hopeful of further developments in the coming months.' The rail operator has told the BBC it does not intend to remove the AI voice from its trains.
Daily Mail
27-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Words fail me! Scotland's rail operator is using MY voice for its 'dreadful' AI announcer
She is a renowned Scots voice over artist whose career spans over two decades. Having graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy for Music, Gayanne Potter went on to voice adverts, announcements and characters and appeared in a number of TV and film productions. But she is now the latest artist to be embroiled in a row over AI plagiarism after learning her voice data is being used on Scotland's trains without her permission. The trained professional, from Edinburgh, said ScotRail's 'Iona', a recently rolled out AI announcer replacing messages recorded by human on some routes, relies on voice data she recorded four years ago. Ms Potter shared an angry post online accusing the nationalised train operator of dismissing her concerns, asking the company: 'Why continue to choose a dreadful AI version of me when I'm right here?' The actress said she has been in dispute with a Sweden-based company called Readspeaker about the use of her voice data following recordings she made for them in 2021. She alleges they were made to provide text-to-speech for translation purposes, and their later use in an AI model called 'Iona' went beyond their agreement. However, Readspeaker says they have a contract to use her voice and their legal team has 'comprehensively' addressed her concerns. Ms Potter's post read: 'I approached the company and expressed my distress at this, as it was far removed from what I believe I signed up for. 'I requested them to cease using my data. They refused. 'Their legal team simply shut down conversations.' The voice over artist says she received only a 'minimal' fee for the initial work, which she offered to repay to have the data deleted. Her post continues: 'So imagine my distress when I discover that ScotRail have installed the Readspeaker model 'Iona' that contains my biometric voice data as their new announcer on all their trains. 'I did not know. I was not asked. I did not consent.' Ms Potter said she felt 'violated', and argued: 'ScotRail should employ a real human irrespective of who it is.' Referring to a particular station to the north of Glasgow, she said: 'Why continue to choose a dreadful AI version of me when I'm right here... 'And I know how to pronounce Milngavie.' A spokesman for Readspeaker said it was aware of Ms Potter's concerns. He continued: 'Readspeaker and Ms Potter have a contract regarding the use of her voice. 'Readspeaker has comprehensively addressed Ms Potter's concerns with her legal representative several times in the past.' Phil Campbell, ScotRail Customer Operations Director, said: 'We are always looking at ways to improve the customer journey experience, and we know how important both on-train and at-station announcements are. 'The use of an automated voice allows us to have more control over the announcements being made, ensures consistency for customers, and gives us flexibility to make changes at short notice. 'ScotRail has always used automated announcements in relation to customer information, but it doesn't replace human interaction through either with pre-recorded audio or staff on trains - something that will continue. 'We are working closely with Network Rail and other train operating companies to continue making improvements across Scotland's Railway, and we are hopeful of further developments in the coming months.'
BBC News
27-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
‘Stop using my voice' - ScotRail's new announcer is my AI clone
A woman who believes her voice has been used to create ScotRail's new AI-generated announcement system is calling for it to be removed from trains. ScotRail recently introduced a synthetic Scottish voice to make onboard announcements in place of pre-recorded human artist Gayanne said the artificial announcer - which is marketed as an imaginary character called Iona - was trained by Swedish technology firm ReadSpeaker using her told BBC Scotland News it had already addressed Gayanne's concerns "several times". ScotRail said it had no plans to remove "Iona" and the dispute was between the company and the voiceover artist. Gayanne said she did some work for ReadSpeaker in 2021 which she was told would be used for accessibility and e-learning two years later, when the job was largely forgotten, a friend sent her a link to ReadSpeaker's opened the page to find Iona - a text-to-speech programme marketed as a red haired woman standing in a Scottish glen."It is my voice - I'm absolutely certain it's my voice,' she said."I was horrified - the quality of it was dreadful." Last week Gayanne discovered the voice was being introduced across ScotRail after reading a BBC Scotland online told how some passengers had expressed unhappiness with the new artificial passenger said: "It was weird. I could tell it was AI because it sounded so robotic."Gayanne, who said she had been in dispute with ReadSpeaker for two years, revealed that after reading the online story she burst into tears. "After the years that I've gone through to try to have my data removed - it's still being used," she said."I also have to look on social media and see people mocking it, berating it."They don't realise it's actually a real person who's been put through a dreadful voice app."Gayanne added: "It's hard enough for people in the creative industry to sustain careers but to be competing with a robotic version of yourself just adds insult to injury." ReadSpeaker markets its products, including Iona, as an "AI voice generator," but it said all of its programmes are based on "human voice talent".The firm uses a text-to-speech model, that means a user can type anything and Iona will read it out technology uses artificial intelligence learning but AI needs something to learn this instance, it is voice recordings of an accent or language it is trying to emulate. In response to Gayanne's complaints, the tech firm said: "ReadSpeaker is aware of Ms Potter's concerns, and has comprehensively addressed these with Ms Potter's legal representative several times in the past." Jennifer Cass, a partner at law firm Dentons, said there was a gap when it came to some protections against AI said copyright extended to literary and artistic works but not "likeness or image"."At the moment, there is no protection for image and voice in the UK," Ms Cass said."It is something that is being considered in the context of the AI copyright consultation which recently closed."Ms Cass added: "There is a question about whether copyright should be expanded to cover likeness and image and to prevent the creation of digital replicas as well." Historical contracts Liam Budd is an industrial official for recorded media at UK trade union Equity, which represents 50,000 workers throughout the creative said: "Sadly this is just one example of many performers who have their image or voice used to generate digital replicas without their full or informed consent."This is a real concern."Our members are effectively competing in a marketplace with AI systems that have been trained on their own image and voice without their consent."Their likeness is effectively being hijacked." Gayanne said that AI had developed massively in the past four years and a lot of historical contracts were not fit for purpose. She added: "Why would I give my voice away that was going to do me out of work forever? That's nuts."Gayanne also believed that her work should be covered by GDPR - UK and EU data protection regulations - and that her consent should have been required for ReadSpeaker to sell a commercial contacted the Information Commissioner's Office, the regulatory body which advises on data protection rights established by UK it said that the case was outside its jurisdiction as the data was controlled by ReadSpeaker. Gayanne said she was now asking her lawyers to approach ScotRail to request the announcements be said: "If ScotRail want to do the right thing, I'm happy to do their voice announcements."At least I know how to say Milngavie."
Sky News
27-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News
Voiceover artist Gayanne Potter urging ScotRail to remove her voice from new AI announcements
Gayanne Potter is one of Britain's most recognisable voices - behind adverts for the likes of Estee Lauder, Apple, LBC radio, and B&Q. Now, an artificial intelligence (AI) version of her voice is being used on Scotland's nationalised train network, ScotRail. But the professional voiceover artist says she had no idea she had been transformed into a robot until a friend called her last week. "I was devastated, I was furious, I feel completely violated," she told Sky News. "My voice is my job, and I should be allowed to know who I am working with and what I am working on." Ms Potter, who lives on the outskirts of Edinburgh, believes the incident can be traced back to a job she completed during the COVID pandemic with Swedish company ReadSpeaker, where she recorded scripts for the visually impaired. Ms Potter alleges she was unaware the contract allowed her voice to be sold as part of AI years later. Sky News has seen correspondence where the company appeared to reassure Ms Potter's agents they "would never sell them (the recordings) to anybody else". Responding to concerns, ReadSpeaker insisted there was a "very clear contract" that allows it to "use... synthesised voices for businesses and organisations". ScotRail unveiled its new AI announcer, nicknamed "Iona", on board the railway network in Scotland this month. The new technology has drawn criticism for mispronouncing place names, with officials asking the public to "give it time". Sky News joined Ms Potter on board a train as she discussed the situation. She said: "I literally didn't know. ScotRail never approached me, ReadSpeaker never approached me. "ScotRail have said it is not a real person. It is a real person, and I am right here. "This is a real threat. I have worked really hard for the past 20 years and built trust with clients I work with. And now to have my voice in this dreadful robot is demeaning to me." She added: "I do not consent to my voice data being used. To find out that my personal human data is being used on the trains is appalling. "I feel like my data is being burgled. I have no control over it." Union Equity, which represents workers in the creative industries, is helping Ms Potter fight her case. Liam Budd, industrial official for recorded media at Equity, said: "It is extremely exploitative for companies to use and commercialise voice recordings to create digital replicas of artists from contracts which pre-date the development of generative AI or were not drafted explicitly for this purpose. "Gayanne is directly competing in a marketplace with a low-quality clone of her own voice that she claims was developed without her informed and explicit consent. "Not only is this distressing for her, but it would represent an infringement of our members' data protection and other rights." Roy Lindemann, chief marketing officer at ReadSpeaker, dismissed questions from Sky News about Ms Potter's wishes to withdraw her voice from being sold. He said the firm was aware of Ms Potter's concerns, adding: "ReadSpeaker and Ms Potter have a contract regarding the use of her voice. "ReadSpeaker has comprehensively addressed Ms Potter's concerns with her legal representative several times in the past." ScotRail, which is owned by the Scottish government, said it had "no plans" to remove its "Iona" AI announcer voice system and rejected questions about Ms Potter's concerns. Phil Campbell, ScotRail customer operations director, said: "We are always looking at ways to improve the customer journey experience, and we know how important both on-train and at-station announcements are. "The use of an automated voice allows us to have more control over the announcements being made, ensures consistency for customers, and gives us flexibility to make changes at short notice." A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: "While sub-contracts are a matter for ScotRail, the Scottish government expects it, as a publicly controlled organisation, to ensure all agreements entered into are within the parameters of Public Sector Procurement guidance and meet Fair Work principles.
