Author: Umberto Bacchi
Publisher: Reuters
Publication Year: 2022
Summary: The following article discusses how TikTok’s original text to speech voice was modeled after Bev Standing, a Canadian voice actress, whose performance was never licensed by the platform. Instead, some of her previous work was acquired by the developers, and an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm was used to develop the voice that was ultimately used in millions of short videos. When asked for comment by Reuters, Standing said “I am a business. I need to protect my product, and my product is my voice… [TikTok was]n’t my client. It’s like me buying a car and you driving it away. You didn’t buy it, you don’t get to drive it.” This case is representative of numerous questions and even controversies that have arisen in recent years due to the digital use of people’s voices and likenesses. Many artists are concerned that their work will be used without express consent, or that an individual or group could use such an algorithm to enhance an unimpressive performance, and thus garner greater success while putting in a substandard amount of effort. Much of the issue boils down to performers not being given adequate information about their rights with respect to how clients can use their work. The article suggests that laws and other guidelines are needed in order to protect performers.