Nicola Coughlan, Matt Lucas, Hugh Bonneville back campaign calling for laws against AI voice cloning
The campaign claims that 28% of UK adults report having been targeted by a voice-cloning scam
Nicola Coughlan, Matt Lucas and Hugh Bonneville are among more than 80 actors and creative industry figures backing a new campaign calling for stronger legal protection against the unauthorised cloning of people’s voices using artificial intelligence.
The Save Our Voices Now campaign is urging the UK government to introduce legislation that would give people legal ownership of their voices and greater control over how AI technology can replicate them. A petition has also been launched calling for voice ownership to become a statutory right.
Coughlan, the Bridgerton and Derry Girls star, is among the performers supporting the campaign as concerns continue to grow over AI systems that can reproduce a person’s voice and make it say words they never actually spoke.
The campaign has attracted support from actors including Bonneville, Lucas, Luke Evans, Jen Brister, Siobhán McSweeney and Pearl Mackie. More than 80 people have signed an open letter calling for greater protection as AI technology develops faster than existing laws and industry safeguards.
Bonneville said a person’s voice is an important part of their identity and should be protected accordingly.
“My voice is unique, it’s mine, it’s part of my identity. So is yours. That’s worth speaking up about.”
McSweeney, who has also backed the campaign, warned that legislation, contracts, working practices, ethics and artists’ rights are not keeping pace with the rapid development of AI.
She said she believes artificial intelligence can be used as a tool that benefits performers, but argued that the technology should not remove human creativity from the equation.
Campaign founder Peter Caulfield described AI voice cloning as an urgent threat, arguing that voices can now be replicated within seconds and used without the knowledge or consent of the person being copied.
The campaign claims that 28% of UK adults report having been targeted by a voice-cloning scam, highlighting concerns that extend beyond the entertainment industry to everyday consumers.
Supporters are pointing to Denmark as an example of how governments could respond. Recent legal reforms there give individuals ownership over aspects of their likeness, including their face, body and voice, allowing them to seek the removal of unauthorised AI-generated material and potentially claim compensation.
For actors and other performers, the campaign is also about protecting the value of their work and identity at a time when AI-generated performances can increasingly imitate human voices without requiring the original performer to participate.
The Save Our Voices Now campaign is calling for the UK government to act before the technology advances further, arguing that performers and members of the public should have a legal say over how their voices are reproduced, altered and used by AI.
