--- title: "Actor Stephen Fry Furious After AI Rips Off His Voice Without Permission" description: "When it comes to voicing his concerns over AI, English actor and broadcaster Stephen Fry isn't mincing words." date: "2023-09-19" modified: "2023-09-19" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/stephen-fry-furious-ai-rips-off-voice" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "generative ai" - "harry potter" - "the digest" --- # Actor Stephen Fry Furious After AI Rips Off His Voice Without Permission ![When it comes to voicing his concerns over AI, English actor and broadcaster Stephen Fry isn't mincing words.]() *\Image: David Levenson/Getty Images\* ## Into the Fry-ing Pan When it comes to voicing his concerns over AI, English actor and broadcaster Stephen Fry isn't mincing words. As [*Deadline* reports](), Fry discussed his AI concerns onstage last week at London's CogX Festival while addressing the ongoing entertainment strikes in Hollywood. AI has been a [central issue]() of concern for [writers and actors]() alike. During his speech, Fry — who [announced himself]() to the crowd as a "proud member" of the actors' union SAG-AFTRA — grappled with [AI's potential impact on the entertainment industry](), recounting how astonished he was to discover that an automated system had been used to duplicate his voice for a documentary's narration without his express knowledge or consent. "I said not one word of that — it was a machine," Fry told the crowd as he played a clip of the audio deepfake, according to *Deadline*. "Yes, it shocked me." ## Harry Not-ter Fry explained an AI was likely taught on the seven official UK-edition Harry Potter audiobooks, all of which he narrated. And although this is a relatively tame use of AI, the actor was careful to warn that the technology could theoretically be used to generate much worse types of content. "It could therefore have me read anything from a call to storm parliament to hard porn, all without my knowledge and without my permission," the actor continued. "And this, what you just heard, was done without my knowledge." ## Weird Time Indeed, audio-generating AIs *have* already been used to generate much worse material. Back in January, the beta version of a startup called ElevenLabs' text-to-voice AI leaked to 4Chan, where — surprise! — the cursed website's users [immediately abused the system]() to generate hate speech by cloning the voices of celebrities. For his part, Fry thinks that this is just the beginning, telling the crowd at CogX that we should think about AI "like the first automobile: impressive but not the finished article." "Tech is not a noun, it is a verb, it is always moving," Fry continued. "What we have now is not what will be." Per *Deadline*, the actor also called attention to the prevalence of [visual deepfakes](), noting that "it won't be long until full deepfake videos are just as convincing." "One thing we can all agree on," the actor added, "it's a fucking weird time to be alive." **More on AI and entertainment:** *[The A.V. Club's AI-Generated Articles Are Copying Directly From IMDB]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()