London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Jul 07, 2025

Voice cloning of growing interest to actors and cybercriminals

Voice cloning of growing interest to actors and cybercriminals

As voice cloning technology has become ever more effective, it is of increasing interest to actors... and cybercriminals.

When Tim Heller first heard his cloned voice he says it was so accurate that "my jaw hit the floor... it was mind-blowing".

Voice cloning is when a computer program is used to generate a synthetic, adaptable copy of a person's voice.

From a recording of someone talking, the software is able to then replicate his or her voice speaking any words or sentences that you type into a keyboard.

Such have been the recent advances in the technology that the computer generated audio is now said to be unnervingly exact. The software can pick up not just your accent - but your timbre, pitch, pace, flow of speaking and your breathing.

And the cloned voice can be tweaked to portray any required emotion - such as anger, fear, happiness, love or boredom.

Mr Heller, a 29-year-old voiceover artist and actor from Texas, does everything from portraying cartoon characters, narrating audio books and documentaries, speaking on video games, and the voiceovers on film trailers.

He says he recently turned to voice cloning to "future proof" his career.

He says it may enable him to secure more work. For example, if he is ever double-booked, he could offer to send his voice clone to do one of the jobs instead.

"If I am booked for other work... I can position my 'dub' [what he calls his voice clone] as an option that can save clients time, and generate passive income for myself," says Mr Heller.

To get his voice cloned Mr Heller went to a Boston-based business called VocaliD - one of a growing number of companies now offering the service.

VocaliD was founded by its chief executive Rupal Patel, who is also a professor of communication sciences and disorders at Northeastern University.

Prof Patel set up the business in 2014 as an extension of her clinical work creating artificial voices for patients who are unable to talk without assistance, such as people who have lost their voice following surgery or illness.

A US academic, Prof Patel is an expert in voice cloning

She says that the technology - which is led by artificial intelligence, software that can "learn" and adapt by itself - has advanced greatly over the past few years. This has caught the attention of voiceover artists.

"We also specialise in making custom voices that are more diverse in accent," says Prof Patel. "We've made some transgender voices, we've made gender neutral voices... technology should speak the way that all of us speak, we all have unique accents and voices."

Voice cloning can also be used to translate an actor's words into different languages, thereby potentially meaning, for example, that US film production companies will no longer need to hire additional actors to make dubbed versions of their movies for overseas distribution.

Canadian firm Resemble AI says it can now turn cloned English voices into 15 other languages.

Its chief executive Zohaib Ahmed says that to generate a quality copy of someone's voice, the software needs a recording of someone speaking for as little as 10 minutes.

Zohaib Ahmed's firm can turn a person's voice into other languages

"When the AI learns your voice, it learns many properties... like timbre and pitch, and intensity," he says.

"But it also learns thousands of other features [of a person's voice] that may not be very obvious to us."

Yet while the increasing sophistication of voice cloning has obvious commercial potential, it has also led to growing concerns that it could be used in cyber crime - to trick people that someone else is talking.

Together with computer-generated fake videos, voice cloning is also called "deepfake". And cyber security expert expert Eddy Bobritsky says there is a "huge security risk" that comes with the synthetic voices.

"When it comes to email or text messages it's been known for years that it's quite easy to impersonate others," says the boss of Israeli firm Minerva Labs.

"But until now, talking on the phone with someone you trust and know well was one of the most common ways to ensure you are indeed familiar with the person."

Mr Bobritsky says that is now changing. "For example, if a boss phones an employee asking for sensitive information, and the employee recognises the voice, the immediate response is to do as asked. It's a path for a lot of cybercrimes."

In fact, such a case was reported by the Wall Street Journal back in 2019, with a UK manager said to have been tricked into transferring €220,000 ($260,000; £190,000) to fraudsters who used a cloned copy of the voice of his German boss.

"Steps to deal with this new technology and the threats it brings with it need to be made," adds Mr Bobritsky.

Firms around the world are in fact already doing this, as specialist artificial intelligence news website Venture Beat has reported.

Such companies can monitor audio to see if it is fake, looking for tell-tale signs like repetition, digital noise, and the use of certain phrases or words.

Meanwhile, governments and law enforcement agencies are also looking at the issue. Last year, Europol, the European Union's law enforcement agency, urged member states to make "significant investments" in technologies that can detect deepfakes. And in the US, California has banned their use in political campaigns.

Back in Texas, Tim Heller says that while he hasn't yet sold his cloned voice, "a few different clients have expressed interest".

Tim Heller says how much he will get paid for his clone is a concern

But does he fear that in the longer term he could lose work to other people's synthetic voices?

"I don't worry that it could put me out of a job," he says. "I truly feel that there will always be a place for the true human voice. The point of having a 'dub' [his clone] is not to replace me or anyone else, but to act as an additional tool in my business."

Rebecca Damon, executive vice president of US actors' union, the Screen Actors Guild, says the other key issue surrounding voice cloning is that voiceover artists are properly paid for them.

"Voice cloning could represent an exciting and potentially lucrative new industry for our members to work in," she says. "It is critical to us, as always, however, that voice performers be fairly compensated and are able to consent to how their voices are used.

"To that end, we are monitoring developments in voice cloning carefully, and working with our members to identify the guard rails that need to be in place for this technology to achieve its potential as a new and welcome area of work."

Mr Heller adds that the problem regarding setting the pricing for voice clones is that "this is the 'wild west' of voiceover".

"The most important thing, in my opinion, when it comes to pricing and contract negotiations [for your artificial voice] is that you are not signing away all rights and usage in perpetuity," he says.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Political Dispute Escalates Between Trump and Musk
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
US Senate Votes to Remove AI Regulation Moratorium from Domestic Policy Bill
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
Jury Deliberations in Diddy Trial Yield Partial Verdict in Serious Criminal Charges
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
King Charles Plans Significant Role for Prince Harry in Coronation
Two Chinese Nationals Arrested for Espionage Activities Against U.S. Navy
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
×