AI Isn't the problem...

The people selling it are.

Another week...
Another AI controversy 😞

We're kind of used to this now, right?

But it seems like we still need to draw attention to this sh*t.

Chat GPT creators Open AI showcased their AI voice model 'Sky' last week, which just happened to sound VERY like actor Scarlett Johansson.

This is no coincidence.

One of Johansson's roles was playing an AI in the film 'Her'.
Open AI's Sam Altman even referenced the film in a Tweet.
It's an easy way to score extra publicity points.

It's now been revealed Johansson was approached twice to use her voice.

The second time was just after the AI voice sounding like her was publicly previewed, giving the impression they were trying to apply pressure.

To her credit, Johansson stood firm.
In fact, she got her lawyers to push back.
And less than a week later, the voice has been removed.

But if Johansson hadn't been a celebrity?
If she hadn't had those lawyers?
What would have happened 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯?

This isn't just a misunderstanding or  mistake.
These people are seeing what they can get away with.

If someone's voice can't be bought, then what's stopping you creating something nearly identical and trading off the association anyway?

So before you jump back on Chat GPT to brainstorm some more content ideas, or Midjourney for another social media image...

Remember that.

Sure - technology is always evolving.
And almost every bit of tech we use comes with moral questions.

But in the face of all that complexity,
we need to make our consumption 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴.

The creators of this tech are prepared to do lots of things to 'democratise creativity' using assets they don't own.

And sharing this story is part of that.

Voice Acting tip of the week:

Any business is only as strong as the habits you build it with.

Reading James Clear’s book Atomic Habits really changed my thinking about how to build my schedule as a freelancer and in this video, I share some insight into how I applied it to my voice acting goals.

Behind The Scenes of the week:

Ninja Theory are a game studio working on the cutting edge of performance capture. As their latest title Hellblade 2 has been recently announced, I strongly recommend checking out this behind the scenes look at the game’s production!

Media Recommendations:

Every week, I share three podcasts, articles or interviews that I’d strongly recommend. This week…

1. Andrew Scott brings spicy audio to the masses

   Many voice actors adopt an alias when voicing erotic content - but not Andrew Scott. In fact, his status as the ‘hot priest’ from Fleabag has led to a… ahem, surge of activity on erotica app Quinn.

2. Brands need to keep moving

   Coca Cola may be iconic, but it still needs to move ‘at the speed of culture’ according to Oana Vald, senior director of the brand.

3. Changing the nature of likes?

   Social media platform X is experimenting with making users likes private in an attempt to counter ‘potential negative connotations of your interests’.

Favourite Writing of the week: THE 8TH LEGION

One tricky aspect of voice acting is that you almost never hear the lines that you’re responding to. In video games, characters are typically recorded separately - while in audiobook narration the onus is on one performer to do all the parts.

So practising with dialogue - especially brilliantly written dialogue like this exchange by Aaron Dembski-Bowden taken from Warhammer 40k - is always a good idea!

@chrisnaturallyrp

‘THE 8th LEGION WAY’ - Kurze and Sevatar #konradcurze #sevatar #jagosevatarion #nightlords #nightlords30k #nightlords40k #warhammer40k #wa... See more

⭐ Newsletter Frequency Update ⭐

Since the start of the year, I’ve loved putting together this newsletter every week and sharing insights with you all. Making it weekly was partly an intentional ‘baptism of fire’ to prove that I could put together something of value and keep engaged with the different industries I work in consistently.

But as more and more of my time is being taken up with long form projects (more news of I will share in due course), I’m planning to change the frequency of these newsletters to either bi-weekly or monthly from June onwards.

If you have the time to let me know which you might prefer, then I’d greatly appreciate it. Just email me ‘BI-WEEKLY’ or ‘MONTHLY’ at [email protected].

Know someone who might enjoy the newsletter? Feel free to point them here: https://www.naturallyrp.co.uk/newsletter

Thanks again for reading, and until next time, Honey and I wish you a wonderful week!