Australian voice actors are being displaced by AI, and approximately 5,000 voice actors are at risk of losing their jobs, according to industry bodies.

In Australia parliament's Select Committee on Adopting Artificial Intelligence, Australian Association of Voice Actors (AAVA) representatives described how large organisations and production companies - including Amazon's Audible - were using “strong arm tactics” to force voice actors to sign contracts allowing for their voice to be turned into a digital clone to be reused in the future.

Examples of digital versions of voice actors being used without consent were also shown. Voice actor Cooper Mortlock told the inquiry his work on an animated series was cut short in 2022 when producers used an AI tool to clone his voice without his knowledge or compensation. 

In another instance, a voice actor who signed a contract with an AI text-to-speech company to create a voice for sale later discovered that their voice was being used for pornography ads, despite the contract stating it would not be used for “profane and explicit content”. 

The actors and the wider industry are concerned about licensing their voice likenesses without ethical or legal frameworks in place that ensure consent, control, transparency and fair compensation. 

The voice actor industry recommended a range of reforms to better protect the creative sectors from job losses, intellectual property infringement and other harms associated with AI technologies, which they see as compromising the quality, credibility, and humanity of the industry.