Morgan Freeman’s celebrated baritone is being repurposed for projects the actor didn’t approve of, and he’s not happy about it. Freeman called out the unauthorized AI-powered voice clones in a post on X, thanking supporters for alerting him and his management to where AI-replicated versions of his voice have appeared.
“Thank you to my incredible fans for your vigilance and support in calling out the unauthorized use of an AI voice impersonating me,” Freeman posted, adding hashtags like “#scam,” “#imitation,” and “#IdentityProtection.”
Thank you to my incredible fans for your vigilance and support in calling out the unauthorized use of an AI voice impersonating me. Your dedication helps prioritize authenticity and integrity. Grateful. #AI #scams #impersonation #identityprotectionJune 28, 2024
While Freeman doesn’t specifically mention it, his post is likely a reference to a new video in a viral TikTok series in which a fake version of his voice describes the activities of his “cousin,” a TikTok user. @justinescamerarollbetter known as Justine.
@justinescameraroll
♬ water (instrumental) – none/vocals & karaoke
Her “Day in the Life of a Nepo Niece” videos have collectively amassed over 1 million views from her 218.6k TikTok followers and 123k Instagram followers. She captioned her most recent post, which features Freeman’s voice clone narrating the story, “Uncle Mo is booked and busy but I finally got him to narrate my journey!” A post of the video shared on X subsequently reached 16.4 million people and may have provoked Freeman’s response based on the timing.
Justine later confirmed in a follow-up video that her video doesn’t feature Freeman’s real voice, adding, “I was just having a little fun.”
Famous forgeries
The iconic nature of Freeman’s voice means there’s a lot of interest in imitating it for everything from the aforementioned social media videos to full-length film narrations. ElevenLabs a voice made specifically designed to imitate Freeman. For example, although the documentary “The Power of Chi” lists Freeman as the narrator, and it’s listed that way on IMDB, Freeman has never credited it. Also, his voice sounds more than a little off in the film, as you can hear in the link. He could just be phoning it in for a paycheck from the obscure documentary, or it could be AI.
Freeman is far from the only celebrity concerned about how AI-created versions of their face or voice could be used without their consent. In May, actress Scarlett Johansson expressed her anger after discovering an OpenAI chatbot that sounded disturbingly like her voice. Johansson, who played an AI assistant in the 2013 film Her, found the situation particularly troubling. OpenAI responded by announcing plans to stop using the ChatGPT voice that resembled Johansson’s, but without acknowledging any wrongdoing.
The same goes for videos that use deepfakes of celebrities to trick people into thinking the celebrity approved the scam. Tom Hanks has fans had to warn about a deepfake video of themselves on social media. So did trusted British consumer advice guide Martin Lewis, who warned about a deepfake video trying to trick people into sending money for a bogus investment.
The rapid advancement of AI has outpaced regulatory measures, leading to situations where the voices and likenesses of individuals can be replicated without permission. Concerns about AI-generated impersonations are not limited to actors. AI music creation startups Suno and Udio are facing a lawsuit from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and major music labels for copyright infringement.