Script Happens: When Giving Your Voice Comes Back to Bite You

I was alerted today about something that really frosts my cake. And not with yummy chocolate frosting—more like something eewww...like matcha. (No offense if you love it. But for me? It's a hard pass.)

If you’re not familiar with LibriVox, it’s a platform where volunteers record public domain books, often for the visually impaired or general public access. That sounds fantastic, and downright noble. When I was first curious about audiobook narration, I dabbled there. I remember recording some nature pieces. Maybe about our national parks? Possibly written by John Muir? It’s a bit fuzzy now, but I do remember how much I connected with the material. Soaking in the beauty of nature, what could be better? It really is my happy place.

The recording requirements were surprisingly strict. I believe each submission was manually reviewed for technical specs and accuracy. I stressed big time over my first upload. Fingers crossed, breath held. And this was for a volunteer project: no pay involved! But you’d think my livelihood depended on it. (OK, I was still pretty green.)

Fast forward to today.

I just found out that those early recordings, my voice, may be used to train AI voice models. What?! Ten years ago, no one was thinking about artificial intelligence in voiceover. I certainly never signed anything allowing my voice to be used that way. And yet, here we are. My voice is in the can, and apparently fair game for a use I never consented to: AI voice training and possible cloning.

I learned about this from a production house I work with, VoiceProductions, who published a blog post on the issue. They wrote, in part:

"Around the world, voice recordings that were once freely offered for educational use are now being used to train AI systems, often without the speaker’s knowledge or permission."

Let that sink in.

What’s next? Using our auditions to train AI? Cloning our voices without consent?

Look, I understand AI is here to stay. But we, as voice actors, have to draw a line. We must speak up for ethical AI practices and protect our work from being freely harvested for uses we never intended.

Read the full post from VoiceProductions here: 👉 Voice Theft by AI Sparks Global Legal Backlash

Let’s not stay silent.If you’ve ever contributed your voice to a public or charitable project—check the terms. Revisit old contracts or platforms where your voice may still live. And if you’re part of the voiceover, audiobook, or eLearning community, talk about this. Share this post. Start the conversation.

Organizations like NAVA (National Association of Voice Actors) are doing vital work to protect our rights, advocate for ethical AI practices, and keep performers informed. Learn more about their efforts here:

 🔗 https://www.navavoices.org

We give our voices to bring stories, lessons, and brands to life—not to have them copied or cloned without our consent.

🗣️ Our voices matter. Let’s protect them.