Creepy AI tool narrates audiobooks in the style of dead actors including Judy Garland and Sir Laurence Olivier — and it’s eerily realistic

Her place in film history was secured when she sang the famous song “Somewhere over the Rainbow” in “The Wizard of Oz.”

Judy Garland fans can now listen to her voice from the afterlife, thanks to a new deal to narrate audiobooks using artificial intelligence.

ElevenLabs, a London-based company founded by two Polish entrepreneurs, said it has struck deals with the estates of Ms Garland and Sir Laurence Olivier to clone their voices.

Users who download an app can then choose celebrities – even those who are no longer alive – to narrate their favorite books, articles and even PDFs.

“It is thrilling to see our mother’s voice available to the millions of people who love her,” said Liza Minnelli, Ms. Garland’s daughter and representative of her estate.

ElevenLabs, a London-based company founded by two Polish entrepreneurs, said it had struck deals with the estates of Ms Garland and Sir Laurence Olivier to clone their voices, as well as those of James Dean and Burt Reynolds.

“Our family believes this will bring new fans to Mama and will be wonderful for those who already cherish the unparalleled legacy Mama has given and continues to give to the world.”

Listeners can also select the voices of James Dean, the Rebel Without a Cause actor who died in 1955, and American icon Burt Reynolds, who died in 2018.

Dustin Blank of ElevenLabs said: ‘Judy Garland, James Dean, Burt Reynolds and Sir Laurence Olivier are among the most celebrated actors in history.

“We have great respect for their legacy and are honored to have their voices on our platform.

“By adding them to our growing list of storytellers, we are taking a major step forward in our mission to make content accessible in every language and voice.”

English actor Sir Laurence Olivier (1907-89) is also among the selections for the ElevenLabs feature

‘The highest quality voice’: AI imitations of real people have become eerily realistic

ElevenLabs was founded by London-based Mati Staniszewski and former Google engineer Piotr Dabkowski.

Millions of pounds have already been raised and its value is over $1 billion (£783 million).

In addition to celebrities, users can also choose voices like “Middle-aged American Man” and “Cheerful Millennial.”

The website states: ‘Immerse yourself in the text thanks to our lifelike voices.

‘Whether you are looking for a soothing story for the evening or a clear reading of the news.’

The deal is the latest example of initiatives to bring celebrities “back to life” using “generative” AI models, which are trained on real audio of a person’s voice and then told to “speak” new words in their style.

Actor James Dean poses for a Warner Bros. publicity photo for his film ‘Rebel Without A Cause’ in 1955 in Los Angeles, California

American icon Burt Reynolds – pictured here in New York for ‘Smoky and the Bandit’ (1977) – died in 2018

Last year, however, the threat of AI led to a 118-day strike among Hollywood actors, fearing that studios would replace them with the technology.

However, not all forms of AI in the music industry are designed to digitally reproduce artists’ sounds.

Paul McCartney and film director Peter Jackson used an AI tool called MAL to isolate John Lennon’s voice from a 1970s home demo and render it “crystal clear.”

MAL – who can be trained to recognise and distinguish between different instruments such as guitar, piano and vocals – had him and Ringo Starr finish the “last Beatles song”, which topped the charts in November.

Technology is also being used in other ways in the entertainment industry. For example, Michael Jackson and rapper Tupac were projected as holograms during live shows after their deaths.

Meanwhile, Swedish band ABBA – who are all still alive – make money using holograms during a performance in London.