The UK broadcaster is “profoundly disturbed” that AI clones of his voice are proliferating online
AI-cloned versions of legendary UK broadcaster David Attenborough's voice are multiplying online — and he's not happy about it. “Having spent a lifetime trying to speak what I believe to be the truth,” the 98-year-old naturalist and Planet Earth narrator told BBC News, “I'm profoundly disturbed to find that these days my identity is being stolen by others — and greatly object to them using it to say whatever they wish.”
BBC News discovered multiple sites offering AI-generated versions of Attenborough's stentorian voice that are often indistinguishable from the real thing, in one case delivering news reports about Donald Trump and NATO — subject matter far removed from Attenborough's lifetime of nature documentary work.
Dr. Jennifer Williams, an AI audio researcher at Southampton University, told BBC News she was deeply worried about the misuse of Attenborough's trusted voice. “When you have a trusted voice [that] people recognize as an authority, as a voice of truth, and then to have words put in his mouth about war, politics and things that he has never said or may not ever endorse — it's very concerning,” she said.
The controversy highlights how easily accessible voice cloning technology has become. “Anyone could make a clone of David Attenborough's voice,” Williams explained, noting that these tools are freely available online.
Some celebrities and their estates have allowed legal use of their voices. A company called ElevenLabs offers licensed versions of Jerry Garcia, Judy Garland, Maya Angelou, Burt Reynolds, James Dean, and Sir Laurence Olivier as narrators for books and articles.
The real Attenborough is currently narrating the seven-part BBC series Asiawhich explores nature on Earth's largest continent.
