GameMakersToolkit
patreon
A robot stole my voice
🕑 Added 2025-05-21 18:18:11 +0000 UTCHello Patrons!
I just wanted to share a strange story from the world of GMTK.
So on Monday I received an email from a viewer who stumbled upon a video about DOOM: The Dark Ages and thought I should check it out.
Why? Because the narrator of the video sounded suspiciously... like me.
And after 5 seconds of watching it... yep! It's definitely me. The owner of this YouTube channel has use an AI, trained on my voice, to generate a voice over track that sounds almost exactly like me. It's a bit off - weird intonation, very monotone, and strange line readings. But it's unmistakably me.
(I've put a clip above - I don't want to link to the original video because I don't want to give this person any extra views)
This was a very strange experience. I didn't really know how to feel. It's a bit like plagiarism in that someone has stolen from me in order to profit. But it's not stealing my work or my labour - it's stealing a more fundamental part of me. Of my persona. Of my soul, if that's not going too far.
Now, look, I'll admit that I have used generative AI to make an artificial voice. I have a bot that can speak like me and I sometimes use it to create a scratch track of my script so I can edit the video - and then I go back and replace it with my real voice at the end.
And I even used an AI voice on a published GMTK video! Not that you would ever notice it, mind you. Basically: I made the video about the GMTK Game Jam and, whoops, messed up the date. I said July 31st, when I should have said July 30th. I needed to quickly change the video but didn't have access to my recording booth. So I got my AI to say literally two words - "July 30th" - and slotted them in. You'd never have known if I hadn't told you.
So... in some extremely limited, extremely rare cases, I'm okay with using generative AI for voice. But, here's the rub - I'm allowed to because it's my gosh darn voice! But I would never even think of cloning someone else's voice without their permission or consent. It's creepy, invasive, and frankly pretty disgusting.
So yeah, I'm kinda mad. And I would love for the video to come down.
I instantly filed a privacy violation report with YouTube, noting the videos (there's actually two of them) and asserting that they are using AI to clone my voice. YouTube then gave the creator 48 hours to delete the video without repercussion (which is a bit lenient if you ask me), or they'll step in. 48 hours later and the videos are still up - with one of them getting over 60,000 views, and thus a lot of ad revenue.
I haven't heard anything new from YouTube. Hopefully someone will look at it and delete the videos, confiscate the ad revenue, and - in a perfect world - nuke the channel from orbit. I'll give it another 24 hours before I start bringing in the big guns (reach out to my contact at YT, make a video about it, etc). I have spoken to two members of the press - here's one article, and here's me on Wired. So maybe that will get them moving.
I do empathise with YouTube, mind you.
This is very strange and uncharted territory for all involved. I presume that YouTube will have to do more on this in the future - perhaps make a tool that can scan for cloned voices, in the same way that it stops you from using a Taylor Swift song or a Star Wars clip. But right now all we can do is look for this stuff and report it.
But, fundamentally, this is something we're all gonna have to deal with going forward. The fact that it is now so easy to pilfer a fundamental part of someone - their voice, their face, their art style, their writing style, their singing voice... we're going to need more rules, more legislation, and frankly, we need to tell these creeps that this isn't right. That if they want to contribute creatively to this world then they need to make something for themselves. Taking inspiration is one thing, taking someone's voice is pathetic.
Anyway - I don't really know what to say. I just thought it was interesting and noteworthy to share.
If it happens to you, or perhaps a YouTuber you follow, this seems to be the link to use. And please do notify them - the only way to combat this right now is to find and report the videos as they pop up.
Thanks, speak soon,
Mark
Comments
Yelnar Bolatov
Great news! Youtube from July 15th won't monetize Gen AI videos! Refs: https://www.youtube.com/howyoutubeworks/ai/ https://www.instagram.com/p/DL2fDhWvxQk/?igsh=MTdsOXJvOXEwcjF3OA== YouTube ‘clarifies’ its plan to demonetize spammy AI slop | The Verge https://share.google/vZx9PPBzxmKjQ6nOE
Bogdan Fritz
What happened? did you got in touch with YT? are the videos still up? It's been a week! That's wrong on several levels, and I'm sorry for what you experienced. We need to make sure this doesn't happen moving forward, but realistically it will, so vigilance for fake news / fake posts / fake voice? is now more important than ever :(
Willhart
I recall there was a similar situation a year ago, on voice actors having ai copy a character voice they had voice acted for singing videos. Those videos ended up being re-uploaded by lots of people, and are still up today. You might have a better chance getting rid of it here, since you are the "character" in this case.
mhogar
Even if this channel gets "nuked from orbit", another will inevitably take its place. If not copying you, then someone else; this problem is not an easy fix. The issue is AI isn't a tool, its an algorithm. You can't just simply revoke the tools; once you know how it works, you can just make your own. We can hope for more regulations and laws, but malicious actors don't exactly care about rules. It may slow them down, but it won't stop them. Honestly, this is the major issue with technology in general. Any audio file is possible, any image or video is possible. Data is just 1s and 0s after all, you just need to figure out how to choose the right values to achieve the desired result. Once you figure out how, there's no going back. I say, fight these battles where you can but don't let them get you down. They can copy you all they want, but they can never steal who you are: your creativity, your passion, your accomplishments. They belong to you can only you. After all, "mimicry is the sincerest form of flattery".
Sam Records
This sucks! >:(
Mirko
In 2013, the german chancellor Merkel said, "das Internet ist für uns alle Neuland" (the internet is uncharted territory for us all). Well, of course that was kinda ridicolous, 42 years after the first sent email. Two years later in 2015, OpenAI was founded. The hype about machine learning and LLMs is growing (and stumbling) for some years already now. I don't agree with the sentiment, that all of this is oh-so-new and have no sympathy with the ones responsible – amongst them google. This technology is deliberately designed without respect for any personal rights or values, lawmakers still don't seem to understand the magnitude of the intrusion and there's hardly an incentive for big tech to put limits to the outcomes. After all, it's more views on YouTube, more people using, staying longer on Google's product, right? The fact that you have to address this (in my eyes clear violation of personal rights) to a private US company and to ask (!) them to do something about it is fucked up. Even if they let actions follow, I fear this is not gonna get better overall.
𝕎𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕒𝕞 the 𝔹𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣
„Man, Mark sounds different today. Wait…“
Stephan
That's super weird. I clicked the video and was annoyed when it ended appruptly, as it was pleasant to listen to "you" narrating it. Both relaxed, familiar and informative. Giving this video an instant "quality". Sick to realize it's stolen.
Lazybum
Sorry that this person stole from you. It doesn’t sound as good as your videos.
Theis Egeberg
I didn’t read the text before watching the video and I actually thought it was you. That’s scary. I can’t imagine how angry this makes you feel. I would forever also take it as a huge compliment. Your voice is great and the way you use it is good enough to steal. This is part of you. People can copy it, steal it, sure. But you just have it. I don’t think a lot of people are good enough for someone else to copy. And even make money off. Great comedians have their jokes stolen. And it’s very faux pas in those circles. But you need to be great to be worth copying. Still I get that it must be infuriating.
