AI voiceover to replace ‘Mamma Mia!’ star – and the internet is very angry about it

29 March, 2024

Sara Poyzer in 'Mamma Mia!'

One of the stars of the stage musical Mamma Mia! has caused alarm by claiming that her voiceover work for an upcoming BBC production is to be replaced by AI.

Sara Poyzer posted a screengrab from an email that she says was sent to her by a production company working for the BBC, in which she was told that her services will no longer be required.

“Sorry for the delay,” the post reads. “We had had the approval from BBC to use the AI generated voice so we won’t need Sara anymore.”

“Sobering,” Poyzer captioned the screengrab.

The post has caused a lot of outrage on X, with others in the creative industry expressing fear and disgust at the suggestion that voiceover work could be so easily taken away from humans.

The stand-up comedian Seán Burke wrote: “This is terrifying. I rely on VO work. You can already hear very convincing AI voices all over TikTok and there’s nothing stopping companies using it to save a few quid. We can’t trust people to do the right thing. Action needs to be taken.”

Those sentiments were echoed by podcaster and comedian Stevie Martin, who said: “Most of my income comes from voiceovers. Without it I would have had to pick another career cos of money. This makes me want to explode.”

Chris Addison, comedian and star of The Thick of It, simply wrote: “Fuck very much that. Outrageous.”

Podcaster Blindboy also responded: “The other day I saw a YouTube review for an AI robot lawnmower and it was written and narrated by AI”.

The growing impact of AI continues to be a major talking point in the entertainment industry. Last week, a new act was approved in Tennessee to protect musicians from AI deepfakes.

That move came after several US politicians argued for the need for legislation to catch up with advancements in AI technology after graphic AI images of Taylor Swift circulated widely on social media in January.

The songwriter Guy Chambers also recently said that the technology in the music industry is “terrifying”.

“I think we may get to a stage in the future where an album will need to have a badge saying ‘this is an all-human record’,” he said. “From what I’ve seen of AI, the acceleration is pretty terrifying, in terms of what it can do and how it could replace songwriters.”

Recently, Bad Bunny was angered by an AI-generated collaboration between him and Justin Bieber that went viral. Also, ABBA‘s Bjorn Ulvaeus said that the technology will be “another very serious, existential challenge” that “will radically change the world for creators and the creative industry”.

On the other hand, some artists believe that artificial intelligence is good for the creative industry. David Guetta said that “the future of music is in AI” after showing off an AI -generated Eminem verse in a DJ set in February

In other AI news, last month Sophie Ellis-Bextor had to warn fans about a recent AI scam that features her music.

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