Australian voices cloned by AI without consent, sparking calls for crackdown

The voices of Australian stars, the Prime Minister and everyday people are being cloned online and often they have no idea how the AI fakes are being used.

Voice actors are calling on the federal government to crack down on consent rules and AI labelling, with the technology now helping to trigger a new wave of scams.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: AI voice cloning targets Australian celebrities and public

Among those targeted are some of Australia’s most recognisable and trusted voices, including 7NEWS Melbourne’s Peter Mitchell, who was plugged as a news anchor on an AI voice cloning website.

Celebrities have been cloned under their real names, along with the Prime Minister and even a generic war veteran.

The voice of Virgin Australia, Annie Maynard, was also snatched by the AI voice cloning website, which boasts more than two million voice models.

The technology only needs 10 seconds of audio to clone a voice, with everyday Australians also being sampled without their knowledge.

According to industry figures, 61 per cent of voice actors and voice artists have lost work in the last year.

The cloned voices are also being used in scams, with cyber security expert Nalin Arachchilage from RMIT warning the technology is easy to use but hard to detect.

“If there is an urgency behind that, asking for money or asking your sensitive information,” he cautioned.

The federal government says it’s introducing specific criminal offences for deepfakes and doxxing, which is the sharing of personal details without consent.

However, advocates say Australia is lagging behind on AI voice cloning protections.

“No Australian is protected. Their voice, their face, their likeness is up for grabs,” said Simon Kennedy from the Australian Association of Voice Actors.

Europe has AI labelling and consent rules in place, which talent here want to see implemented locally.