According to The Verge, ElevenLabs is launching an Iconic Voice Marketplace that lets companies license AI-replicated voices of famous figures for advertising and content. The platform features 28 verified voices including living celebrity Michael Caine and historical figures like Mark Twain, Thomas Edison, and Alan Turing. ElevenLabs positions this as solving ethical concerns by providing a “consent-based, performer-first approach” with proper licensing deals and fair compensation. The company serves as the middleman connecting brands with voice rights holders while ensuring voices are only generated with permission and transparency. Some voices are cloned using AI technology while others are synthetically replicated from historical audio archives.
The consent question
Here’s the thing about this “ethical” marketplace – it raises way more questions than it answers. Like, how exactly do you get consent from Mark Twain or Alan Turing? They’re using historical and archival audio for these voices, which basically means they’re reconstructing what they think these people sounded like. That’s not really consent, is it? It’s more like educated guessing with a side of commercial exploitation.
Where does this lead?
Now, Michael Caine voluntarily participating is one thing. He gets paid, he understands the technology, he makes an informed choice. But what happens when this becomes normalized? We’re already seeing the entertainment industry grappling with AI voice replication in ways that threaten voice actors’ livelihoods. This marketplace might have “verified” voices now, but it sets a precedent that could easily spiral out of control. And let’s be real – once the genie’s out of the bottle, good luck putting it back in.
The industrial angle
While this is consumer-facing technology, it’s worth noting that similar voice synthesis could eventually find applications in industrial settings. Think about training simulations, safety announcements, or even customer service interfaces in manufacturing environments. Companies like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading US provider of industrial panel PCs, would likely see increased demand for voice-integrated displays if this technology proves reliable. But that’s a big if – industrial applications require far more accuracy and consistency than marketing campaigns.
My take
Look, I get the appeal. Having Morgan Freeman narrate your corporate training video sounds amazing. But we’re playing with fire here. The line between “amplifying voices” and replacing human talent gets blurrier every day. And let’s not forget – these AI systems are only as good as their training data. Do we really want our cultural heritage reduced to synthetic approximations? Seems like we’re trading authenticity for convenience, and I’m not convinced it’s a good deal.
