{"slug": "hugh-bonneville-among-stars-backing-campaign-against-ai-voice-cloning", "title": "Hugh Bonneville among stars backing campaign against AI voice cloning", "summary": "Around 80 people, including actors Hugh Bonneville, Nicola Coughlan, and Matt Lucas, have signed an open letter to Prime Minister Andy Burnham and launched a Gov.uk petition urging the UK government to give citizens statutory ownership of their voices to combat AI voice cloning. The campaign, Save Our Voices Now, claims 28% of UK adults have been targeted by voice-cloning scams, and founder Peter Caulfield said AI can clone a voice in three seconds, allowing companies and criminals to exploit it without consent.", "body_md": "# Hugh Bonneville among stars backing campaign against AI voice cloning\n\n## Around 80 people have added their signatures to an open letter to Prime Minister Andy Burnham.\n\n- Bookmark\n\nNicola Coughlan, [Hugh Bonneville](/topic/hugh-bonneville) and Matt Lucas have joined a campaign to protest against artificial intelligence (AI) voice cloning.\n\nSave Our Voices Now, which is also being backed by [Luke Evans](/topic/luke-evans), Jen Brister, [Siobhan McSweeney](/topic/siobhan-mcsweeney) and Pearl Mackie, aims to stop the practice which sees AI technology used to replicate a real person’s voice to say anything it is prompted to.\n\nPaddington star Bonneville said: “My voice is unique, it’s mine, it’s part of my identity.\n\n“So is yours.\n\n“That’s worth speaking up about.”\n\nHe jokingly added: “The quote was handwritten, not created by AI.”\n\nAround 80 people have added their signatures to an open letter to Prime Minister [Andy Burnham](/topic/andy-burnham) and a Gov.uk petition has been launched to ask for everyone in Britain to be given ownership of their voice as part of their statutory rights.\n\nDerry Girls actress McSweeney said: “I’m deeply worried that legislation, contracts, working practices and ethics, and artists’ rights are not being considered or protected as quickly as AI technology is progressing.\n\n“I believe that there is a way to work alongside AI and to use it as a tool that benefits us rather than rendering us obsolete.\n\n“This is an existential problem and needs to be controlled legislatively as soon as possible.\n\n“My voice is one of my tools.\n\n“In order to adapt and move with technological advances, I don’t see why we should remove the human from the equation.\n\n“Our audiences want that human connection.\n\n“Not AI.”\n\nThe campaign claims that 28% of UK adults report they have been targeted by a voice-cloning scam.\n\nSave Our Voices Now founder Peter Caulfield said: “In just three seconds, with the right AI system, your voice can be cloned, stolen and reinterpreted without your knowledge.\n\n“It’s a Black Mirror episode, except this isn’t fiction.\n\n“It’s happening right now.\n\n“The bottom line is the Government is allowing AI companies to steal and profit from artists’ voices without their consent.\n\n“They are also allowing criminals to use AI to clone people’s identities and threaten everyone.\n\n“We need to use our real voices now to stop it.”\n\nIt comes as [Denmark](/topic/denmark) is making legal reforms to give its citizens legal ownership over their own face, body and voice, allowing them to demand removal of unauthorised AI content and seek compensation.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/hugh-bonneville-among-stars-backing-campaign-against-ai-voice-cloning", "canonical_source": "https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/hugh-bonneville-andy-burnham-siobhan-mcsweeney-denmark-luke-evans-b3040768.html", "published_at": "2026-08-28 05:00:00+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-28 05:18:03.726842+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-policy", "ai-ethics"], "entities": ["Hugh Bonneville", "Nicola Coughlan", "Matt Lucas", "Luke Evans", "Jen Brister", "Siobhan McSweeney", "Pearl Mackie", "Andy Burnham"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/hugh-bonneville-among-stars-backing-campaign-against-ai-voice-cloning", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/hugh-bonneville-among-stars-backing-campaign-against-ai-voice-cloning.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/hugh-bonneville-among-stars-backing-campaign-against-ai-voice-cloning.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/hugh-bonneville-among-stars-backing-campaign-against-ai-voice-cloning.jsonld"}}