A woman who thinks her voice was utilized to develop ScotRail's new AI-created announcement system is demanding its removal from trains.
Recently, ScotRail has implemented a synthesized Scottish voice for making onboard announcements instead of using pre-recorded human voices.
The voice actress Gayanne mentioned that the synthetic announcer, known as an imaginary character named Iona, was developed by Swedish tech company ReadSpeaker utilizing her voice recordings.
ReadSpeaker informed MySmartTechScotland News that they had already resolved Gayanne's concerns multiple times before.
ScotRail stated that they did not intend to take down "Iona," and the conflict was between the organization and the narrator.
Gayanne mentioned that she worked for ReadSpeaker in 2021, and her tasks were expected to contribute to accessibility and e-learning applications.
However, two years later, when the task had mostly faded from memory, a friend forwarded her a link to ReadSpeaker's website.
When Gayanne turned the page, she discovered Iona—a text-to-speech program advertised as featuring a redhead woman situated in a Scottish valley.
"She stated emphatically, 'It is definitely my voice—I have no doubt about it,'" she said.
I was shocked — the quality was terrible.
Last week, Gayanne came across the news about the introduction of the new voice system across ScotRail after she read an article on MySmartTechScotland.
It mentioned that several passengers had shown dissatisfaction with the new synthetic voice announcements.
A traveler remarked: "It seemed bizarre. I could recognize it as an AI due to how mechanical it sounded."
Gayanne, who mentioned that she had been in conflict with ReadSpeaker for two years, disclosed that upon reading the online article, she broke down crying.
"The years I spent trying to get my data deleted continue to see it being utilized," she stated.
I also come across social media where people make fun of it and criticize it harshly.
They fail to recognize it's really a genuine individual who has gone through some terrible voice processing software.
Gayanne commented, "People in the creative sector find it challenging enough to maintain their careers, yet having to compete against an automated replica of themselves only compounds the difficulty."
ReadSpeaker promotes its offerings like Iona, describing them as "AI voice generators." However, they stated that all their programs utilize recordings from "professional human voice actors."
The company employs a text-to-speech system, which allows a user to input any text and Iona will vocalize it aloud.
The technology relies on artificial intelligence for learning; however, AI requires data to train on.
Here, it involves voice recordings attempting to mimic an accent or language.
Regarding Gayanne’s grievances, the technology company responded as follows: “ReadSpeaker acknowledges Mrs. Potter’s issues and has thoroughly discussed them multiple times previously with her legal advisor.”
Jennifer Cass, a partner at the law firm Dentons, pointed out that there is a deficiency regarding certain safeguards against the use of artificial intelligence.
She mentioned that copyright covers literary and artistic creations but does not extend to "resemblance or picture."
"Currently, there is no safeguarding for images and voices in the UK," stated Ms Cass.
This is an idea that has been brought up during the recent AI copyright consultation, which has now concluded.
Ms. Cass also stated, "There is an inquiry into whether copyright laws should be broadened to include likenesses and images, along with preventing the production of digital duplicates."
Historical contracts
Liam Budd serves as an industrial officer for recorded media at Equity, a UK trade union representing 50,000 professionals across the creative sectors.
He stated: "Unfortunately, this is merely an instance among numerous cases where artists' images or voices are utilized for creating digital duplicates without obtaining complete or well-informed permission."
Indeed, this is a genuine worry.
OUR MEMBERS ARE EFFECTIVELY COMPETING IN A MARKETPLACE WHERE AI SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN TRAINED USING THEIR OWN IMAGES AND VOICES WITHOUT CONSENT.
Effectively, their image is being taken over without permission.
Gayanne mentioned that AI has advanced significantly over the last four years, making many historical agreements outdated and inadequate.
She stated, "Why would I relinquish my voice when it was about to cost me employment indefinitely? That’s absurd."
Gayanne was of the opinion that her work fell under GDPR - both the UK and EU data protection regulations - and that she should have had to provide her consent before ReadSpeaker could sell a commercial program.
She reached out to the Information Commissioner's Office, the regulatory body responsible for advising on data protection rights set up under UK legislation.
However, it stated that the case fell outside its jurisdiction since the data was managed by ReadSpeaker.
Gayanne mentioned that she has started requesting her legal team to contact ScotRail with the aim of having those announcements taken down.
She stated, "Should ScotRail wish to take the correct course of action, I am willing to handle their voice announcements."
At least I can manage to pronounce Milngavie correctly.
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