AI voice clone allegedly narrated author's book in unauthorized YouTube videos
Shaun Rein discovered seven YouTube videos that allegedly used AI voice cloning to narrate chapters of his book _The Split_ without authorization, generating over 200,000 views. The deepfakes were created using his publicly available voice samples and text, raising concerns about copyright infringement and misuse of his identity.
What happened
Seven podcast-format YouTube videos appearing to feature author Shaun Rein narrating chapters of his book _The Split_ were published on The US-China Narrative channel without his knowledge or authorization. The videos accumulated more than 200,000 streams on YouTube within one week.
Rein discovered the videos after acquaintances messaged him asking about the podcast. He determined the videos used his voice, cadence, and intonation cloned through AI, along with approximately 95% of his original text from the book. He identified the deepfake nature when the AI-cloned voice attempted Mandarin Chinese, a language he does not regularly record in.
Reported impact
Rein expressed concern that his publisher and agent would not receive fair compensation from the unauthorized use of his work. His agent Chris Newson reported worries about the cloned voice and image being used for 'more nefarious issues,' including a fake Twitter account making unauthorized statements.
Index analysis
The incident demonstrates how publicly available voice samples from interviews can be used to create convincing deepfakes of an author's narration. The YouTube channel appeared to be based in Singapore according to Rein, though the intent behind the unauthorized videos remains unclear.
Governance controls
Rein called on YouTube to improve policing of AI deepfakes by taking down unauthorized videos or marking them as synthetic media. As of the report, the videos remained on the platform.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.