Voice Creatives Optimistic about Generative AI But Concerned Over Its Ethics

Voices, providers of a marketplace for voice actors, recently found that creatives, including video producers, content creators, social media managers, and others, are excited to see new tools like generative artificial intelligence emerge, but they are equally as concerned about making sure things are done the right way.

More than 40 percent of surveyed creatives believe significant elements of their jobs can be taken over by AI, and 85 percent believe AI-generated content will reach a point where it is indistinguishable from human-made content. Despite this, two-thirds of creatives believe AI developments will create new job opportunities in their industry. Furthermore, 81 percent believe that within five years, AI will change core functions of their jobs.

Despite anticipated disruptions to how they carry out their roles, creatives are eager to experiment and learn. More than three-quarters (77 percent) believe that content created by generative AI can enhance human creativity.

But optimism and curiosity are accompanied by concerns over ethics. Eighty-two percent of respondents said content creators should be credited for content of theirs that was used to train an AI model.

"Innovation and evolution in technology are positive attributes. We just need to take care to ensure that all parties involved in developing and using generative AI are protected, so we can continue to explore this space in a way that's safe and beneficial to everyone," said David Ciccarelli, CEO and founder of Voices, in a statement.

The study also found that when it comes to voice-over content, a human touch is still preferred. Almost 60 percent of creatives said they have not yet used an AI voice yet, and just more than one-third said that AI voices were still too robotic. Of the 40 percent who have used an AI voice or text-to-speech service to create voice-over recordings, nearly half said it was because they needed a voice they could instantly download.

"Our findings shed light on the curiosity and concern from those in creative roles,The emergence of new generative AI tools unlocks great potential to completely transform the way we create and the content that comes out of our workflows," Ciccarelli said. "When thinking about how our existing content and proprietary data will interact with generative AI, abiding by a set of guiding principles will make sure we move forward in the most ethical way. As innovation takes us deeper into new territory, consent, credit, and compensation should be top considerations when developing this technology."