Acclaimed actor Morgan Freeman has publicly denounced unauthorized use of his voice through AI technology.
Aside from James Earl Jones, Morgan Freeman has one of the most iconic voices in Hollywood history, one that has graced movies, commercials, documentaries, and PSAs alike. With the advancement of AI technology, his voice could easily be replicated by a machine, which would therefore destroy any and all autonomy he might have over his likeness. In a Facebook post this week, Freeman called out a video circulating on TikTok that featured an impressive AI version of his voice.
“Welcome to my niece’s day-in-life, narrated by me, Morgan Freeman,” the video began.
The creator did use the hashtag “AI,” but many users were under the impression that Freeman narrated the video. Freeman thanked his fans for bringing the video to his attention.
“Thank you to my incredible fans for your vigilance and support in calling out the unauthorized use of an A.I. voice imitating me,” he wrote on his Facebook. “Your dedication helps authenticity and integrity remain paramount. Grateful. #AI #scam #imitation #IdentityProtection.”
As Breitbart News reported recently, an AI rendering of Morgan Freeman beat the uncanny valley to the point it fooled the head of his own production company. Speaking on the Produced By panel, “AI: What Every Producer Needs to Know,” Lori McCreary, the CEO of Morgan Freeman’s production company Revelations Entertainment, said the industry needs to figure out a way to handle potential deepfakes that could fool anyone.
McCreary has often been able to spot a fake when it comes to Morgan Freeman, but one particular video fooled her to such a degree that she had to make a few phone calls to confirm its authenticity.
“She received a video of Freeman in what appeared the actor was promoting a book. McCreary called the Unforgiven star and his make-up artist to double check whether the promo was actually shot; that’s how good the footage was,” reported Deadline.
McCreary told the audience the industry needs to figure out a way to immediately confirm a fake.
“As a community we need to get ahead of it. Let’s try to build the tool and get the tools ready so when things come out, we know that they’re real. I’d like to have a bug that says this is the real Morgan,” she said.
The proliferation of AI has become one of the hottest topics in the entertainment industry, putting it on track to an uncertain future that could change it forever. Actor Ashton Kutcher recently said that AI could create a situation where more content exists than eyeballs on the planet to consume it.
“You’ll be able to render a whole movie. You’ll just come up with an idea for a movie, then it will write the script, then you’ll input the script into the video generator and it will generate the movie,” he said. “Instead of watching some movie that somebody else came up with, I can just generate and then watch my own movie.”
Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning Christian tech thriller, EXEMPLUM, which has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic rating and can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free rental can also be streamed on Google Play, Vimeo on Demand, or YouTube Movies. Follow him on X @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.
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