Bollywood braces for AI as jobs, identity, rights at risk
Entertainment
AI offers access to voice cloning technology for common public for free
(Web Desk) - The Bollywood industry is on edge due to the emergence of AI, with artistes concerned about potential violations of their rights and job stability.
Worldwide, artistes are advocating for the responsible deployment of AI, even as industry leaders recognise its potential to improve creative processes.
With the onset of Artificial Intelligence (AI), every industry on planet Earth is spending enormous time and energy on assessing what lies ahead – dreamland or catastrophe?
The entertainment sector is no different and those living on their innate talent are particularly unnerved about their future.
In a reflection of growing worries among entertainment workers, a group of global singing sensations including Katy Perry, Zayn Malik and Billie Eillish wrote an open letter to AI developers, tech companies, platforms and digital music services to stop AI’s use that devalues music and infringes upon the rights of human artists.
Several Bollywood personalities have voiced their concerns over the potential harm that AI could bring to industry workers and their intellectual properties.
A few months back, Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachhcan said he feared losing control over his likenesses.
Violations and infringement of intellectual rights are already being reported. One such case is of Vijay Vikram Singh, the familiar voice behind 'Bigg Boss' and 'Indian Idol'.
In 2018, Singh signed a deal to lend his voice for training machines on text-to-voice technology. Six years later, he is preparing to sue the company for using his voice in ways that he did not intend to at the time of signing the deal.
"I've lost the right to my voice. They can use my voice and actually replace me completely," the voice artist told IndiaToday.in, adding that AI has expanded the scope of the use of his voice as part of the deal.
Many are scrambling to find ways to protect rights to their public identity, appearance and intellectual property.
Actor Anil Kapoor, for instance, secured exclusive rights to his own name, image, likeness, persona, voice, and other personality attributes against online misuse through a Delhi High Court ruling.
VOICE CLONING: AN EASY-PEASY GAME
In the music industry, companies such as Splice, MusicFlow, and Soundraw are tapping into AI to streamline tasks like writing songs, creating beats, and even mimicking artists' voices for singing.
This has led to a sense of insecurity among music directors, composers and producers, audio engineers, voice artists and singers.
There are numerous tech platforms offering access to voice cloning technology for the common public for free.
To exhibit the potential threat to intellectual property, India Today used a pre-trained model available on a platform called Jammable to re-create a famous track sung by Arjit Singh.
