French dubbing actors strike over AI voice cloning threat
France's dubbing sector, comprising about 15,000 workers, is mobilizing against AI voice cloning technology that could replace actors without consent. The sector was shaken by an AI-modeled French voice of Sylvester Stallone in the film Armor, which raised ethical concerns after the original voice actor's death in 2024.
What happened
Generative AI has raised concern in France's dubbing sector, which employs approximately 15,000 people including actors, translators, sound technicians and artistic directors working for French-speaking countries.
The dubbing world was shaken by an excerpt from Sylvester Stallone's recent film Armor, in which the historical French voice of the American actor was modeled by AI. Alain Dorval, Stallone's French voice actor, died in February 2024, raising ethical questions about the use of voice cloning technology.
Reported impact
Dubbing actors express concern that AI voice cloning will allow them to be replaced without consent or compensation. One artistic director stated: "We are very worried. We want to continue creating, we want to continue being artists. We do not want to be replaced by something that only creates because it first robbed us."
Actors worry that AI systems are trained on their voices without permission and can be used to make them say things they did not choose to say.
Index analysis
The sector is mobilizing to seek protection of actors' voices and professions against this technological revolution.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
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