Voiceover artist claims her voice is being used on ScotRail’s AI-generated announcements without permission

A voiceover artist is claiming her voice is being used for ScotRail’s AI-generated announcements without her permission, and says she feels ‘violated’ by the experience.

Gayanne Potter, whose voice is ITN’s ‘Voice of God’ and the Female Station Voice for Heart Scotland, said she was unaware her voice had been made into an artificial intelligence version used on Scotland’s nationalised train network.

ScotRail revealed its new AI announcer, called "Iona", this month. The technology and sound has already faced criticism from voiceover artists and passengers, and ScotRail is urging customers to “give it time”.

But now, Potter says the Swedish technology firm ReadSpeaker used her voice to train their models after completing a job for them during the Covid pandemic.

"I was devastated, I was furious, I feel completely violated," she told Sky News.

"My voice is my job, and I should be allowed to know who I am working with and what I am working on."

Potter alleges she was unaware that her contract for her work with ReadSpeaker permitted her voice to be sold to be used as AI.

Speaking to Sky News, she explained: "I literally didn't know. ScotRail never approached me, ReadSpeaker never approached me.

"ScotRail have said it is not a real person. It is a real person, and I am right here.

"This is a real threat. I have worked really hard for the past 20 years and built trust with clients I work with. And now to have my voice in this dreadful robot is demeaning to me."

"I do not consent to my voice data being used. To find out that my personal human data is being used on the trains is appalling.

"I feel like my data is being burgled. I have no control over it,” she said.

ReadSpeaker produces AI-powered text-to-speech voices for more than 12,000 companies but says it uses “authorised voice recordings” for its catalog of more than 200 lifelike voices in over 50 languages.

Responding to the complaints, the tech firm told Sky News: "ReadSpeaker is aware of Ms Potter's concerns, and has comprehensively addressed these with Ms Potter's legal representative several times in the past."

Potter’s case has been taken up by Union Equity, a performing arts and entertainment trade union.

"It is extremely exploitative for companies to use and commercialise voice recordings to create digital replicas of artists from contracts which pre-date the development of generative AI or were not drafted explicitly for this purpose,” Liam Budd, industrial official for recorded media at Equity, told Sky News.

ScotRail said it had "no plans" to remove its "Iona" AI announcer, according to Sky News.

Phil Campbell, ScotRail customer operations director, told Sky News: "We are always looking at ways to improve the customer journey experience, and we know how important both on-train and at-station announcements are.

"The use of an automated voice allows us to have more control over the announcements being made, ensures consistency for customers, and gives us flexibility to make changes at short notice."