The Last Human Voice Podcast

Get in touch to submit a question or send us your feedback.
It's a simple question. Or is it?
Is the Voice industry on the verge of collapse for its human creators or is just evolving into something new?
Are jobs being lost or created? Are agencies declining or blossoming?
Mathilde poses the question for Marcus and Annette to mull over. Are we heading for a VO Garden of Eden... or on our way to the Chapel of Rest?

Get in touch to submit a question or send us your feedback.
This time, we revisit cloning from a fresh - and positive - angle.
Elinor Hamilton and her husband, Phil Sayer, lived and worked side by side as a VO team. When Phil died in 2016, Elinor had to navigate maintaining the business they had built as a couple, bringing up their two boys and processing her own grief... all with Phil's voice still ringing out in the most public of places.
When a longstanding client approached Elinor about cloning Phil's voice, she had some difficult choices to make. 
Elinor talks with wit and warmth about how she and her family worked to protect Phil's legacy in a way that would be faithful, ethical and, most of all, human.

Get in touch to submit a question or send us your feedback.
Our very own Dr Mathilde Pavis, along with colleague (and former LHV guest) Dr Dominic Lees, has written a policy report. Their report is titled AI Human Avatars: Opportunities and Risks for UK Businesses and Services. The report was launched in Westminster, at an event hosted by Mark Seward MP, in a committee room full of politicians, civil servants, actors and industry stakeholders - including reps from ElevenLabs and other AI companies. 
In this episode, we discuss the report and reflect on being in the room  where it happened.

Get in touch to submit a question or send us your feedback.
The all-singing, all-dancing, Tilly Norwood has been back in the spotlight, this time as a would-be pop princess. Meanwhile, SAG-AFTRA negotiations with the US producers' alliance have been rumbling on. The connection between the two? Synthetic performance.
In the previous deal, SAG secured reasonable protection on replicas but nothing concrete was agreed on synthetic performers, making them the the next crunch point - a real threat for SAG members, and actors worldwide. 
So, how does Tilly fit into all this? As a poster child for a new world of all-AI productions? Or could this be the moment for a "TillyTax", designed to keep her off the stage and back in the toolbox?
We watched her latest video, so you don't have to. You can thank us later.

Get in touch to submit a question or send us your feedback.
We turn our attention this time to ElevenLabs, which is storming ahead of the competition as a platform for AI content creation and, in particular, voice generation.
Eleven Labs has been keen to define itself as working ethically with the people whose voices are the foundation of their entire model. Those consenting humans are, they insist, given compensation and a degree of control.
But does that declaration bear scrutiny? How much control do people really have, once they have given their consent? And how much compensation do artists receive for offering up their voices to the technology designed to replace them? 
Ruthless sales techniques have helped ElevenLabs reach a market valuation of eleven billion, and we have a question for every single dollar...