More than 80 cast members signed the letter, including Derry Girls actor Siobhan McSweeney, who said she was “deeply concerned” by the government’s delay in addressing artificial intelligence regulations.
McSweeney said AI could be used as a creative tool rather than a replacement for performers.
“There are ways to work with AI and use it as a tool that benefits us rather than making us obsolete,” she said.
“Our viewers want human connection, not AI.”
The signatories include actors as well as professionals from across the wider theatre and entertainment industries.
Among them is Scottish singer Sandy Thom, best known for her 2006 hit “I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair).”
Thom said she signed the letter because her voice is “unique to me and was given to me at birth.”
“Behind that voice is the emotion, the life, the pain, the tears and the joy that I have felt throughout my life,” she said.
“Without creativity, we are nothing.”
The letter comes months after a legal expert warned that rapid advances in artificial intelligence were making UK law “unfit for purpose.”
Dr Mathilde Pavis said in June that although the law was “almost complete,” it did not fully protect a person’s voice, face or identity.
However, AI voice-cloning technology is welcomed by some people who have lost the ability to speak because of illness.
Yvonne Johnson, who lost her voice because of motor neurone disease, told the BBC’s Tech Life programme in February that she was “completely shocked” when artificial intelligence recreated her voice. The technology helped her reconnect with family members who had forgotten what she sounded like.
Some projects are taking the technology further by combining AI voice cloning with holographic representations of people.
Pam Cronrath, from Washington state, used the technique to surprise mourners at her husband’s funeral. A digital version of her deceased partner appeared and spoke to guests attending the wake.
“I was completely impressed,” she told BBC News. “That stuck with me.”
Source: www.bbc.co.uk