The Last Human Voice Podcast

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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.

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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...

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We talk a lot about licensing our own data for AI training, often in the context of actors and performers. In this episode, we explore what that can look like for authors.
Our guest is Julie Trelstad, Head of US Publishing at Amlet AI, a marketplace where publishers can control how their work is used for AI data training. She also has her own business, Paperbacks and Pixels which aims, among other things, to help authors understand how to use AI to market their work.
So, what does licensing books for AI training look like in practice? Do individual writers have any clout when it comes to negotiating with publishers and with AI tech firms? And, amid the the fear and suspicion around stolen data, could we now be entering a post-scraping digital world?

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Imagine your digital self being stripped down and sold for parts. Far from science fiction, this is now an everyday fact for many performers. 
For Voice Artists, it means being asked to "sell" their voices as digital skins to be laid over another's performance. 
What's the appeal for brands and advertisers? What are the implications for artists' pay? What about recognition of your work? What protections do we need and what, if any, do we already have?
We peel back the skin to examine the nature of performance, face and body. And we start, with one of Mathilde's hands...

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Did people with ears hear it before it went out?
That's the Question of the Week, as we consider Amazon's release of some much-loved animé titles, badly dubbed with AI-generated voices.
Amazon withdrew them, but that doesn't mean the end of AI dubbing. 
So,is it possible to make AI dubbing work for performers? What do the unions, like Equity and SAG have to say on the subject?
Mathilde's shares her own experience of being in the room with film makers and programme producers on this subject and its wider ramifications.