Voice actor Paul Skye Lehrman took a job in 2020, believing he was providing a set of one-time voice samples. However, years later, he discovered his voice was being used to narrate a YouTube video and a podcast- recordings he had never made.
Now, Mr Lehrman and fellow voice actor Linnea Sage are suing the AI company Lovo, accusing them of commissioning voice projects under false pretences to create and sell AI-generated versions of their voices. Lovo, a tech firm based in Berkeley, California, promotes its AI-generated voice technology for use in marketing, education, and product demonstrations.
Sharing how they discovered AI cloning, Mr Lehrman told the BBC that in June 2023, he and his partner Ms Sage were driving near their home in New York City, listening to a podcast about the ongoing strikes in Hollywood and the potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the industry.
The episode was particularly relevant to them as voice-over performers, who, like many other creatives, fear that human-sounding voice generators could soon replace them.
This specific podcast had a unique twist: they interviewed an AI-powered chatbot equipped with text-to-speech software to discuss how AI might affect jobs in Hollywood.
But when the AI spoke, it sounded exactly like Mr Lehrman.
"We had to pull the car over," he said.
"The irony of AI threatening the entertainment industry, and here was my voice discussing its potential destruction, was truly shocking."
That night, they spent hours online searching for answers until they found the website of the text-to-speech platform Lovo. To their dismay, Ms. Sage discovered a clone of her voice there as well.
"I was stunned," she said. "I couldn't believe it."
"A tech company had stolen our voices, created AI clones, and possibly sold them hundreds of thousands of times."
The couple has now filed a lawsuit against Lovo. The company has not responded to either the lawsuit or the BBC's requests for comment.
But how did Lovo recreate their voices? The couple claims it was done under pretences.
Lovo co-founder Tom Lee previously stated that their voice-cloning software only requires a user to read about 50 sentences to create an accurate clone.
"We can capture the tone, character, style, and even accents," he said on the Future Visionaries podcast in 2021.
In their lawsuit, the couple outlines how they believe Lovo obtained these recordings from them.
They allege that anonymous Lovo employees contacted them via Fiverr, a popular freelance platform where they offered their voice-over services for television, radio, video games, and other media.
In 2019, Ms. Sage says she was approached by a user asking her to record several generic-sounding radio scripts. Such test recordings are often used internally in film and television and cost much less than those meant for broadcast.
Ms. Sage completed the job, delivered the files, and was paid $400.
About six months later, Mr. Lehrman received a similar request to record dozens of generic radio ads.
In messages shared with the BBC, the anonymous Fiverr user stated that the audio would be used for "speech synthesis" research. When Mr. Lehrman asked the user to confirm that the scripts wouldn't be used beyond this research project, the user assured him that they wouldn't and that the project's goal was confidential.
Mr. Lehrman delivered the files and was paid $1,200.
The link between the anonymous user and Lovo was revealed, according to the couple, by Lovo itself.
They shared evidence of their cloned voices with Lovo, who responded that they had done nothing wrong, citing the communications between the couple and the anonymous user as proof that the engagement was legal.
"In our careers, we've delivered over 100,000 audio assets," Mr. Lehrman said, referencing their years of work on Fiverr. "We were able to find this needle in a haystack-they gave us this needle in a haystack."
In both cases, Mr. Lehrman and Ms. Sage say they didn't have a written contract, only the conversations they had with the user. The BBC has not been able to verify the entirety of these conversations. The couple also claims that the user deleted some messages.
The BBC contacted Lovo multiple times for an interview but did not get any response.
The lawsuit filed by the couple in May alleges that Lovo used their voice recordings to create AI clones that illegally compete with their real voices.
The couple asserts that this was done without their permission or proper compensation.
The lawsuit is a class action, meaning they hope other claimants will join, though none have so far.
Professor Kristelia Garcia, an expert in intellectual property law at Georgetown University, says the case will likely hinge on an area of U.S. law called rights of publicity, which often involves the misuse or misrepresentation of someone's image or voice.
She also notes there could be a breach of contract regarding the licenses Ms. Sage and Mr Lehrman granted to the user who commissioned the recordings.
"Licenses grant permission for a very specific and narrow use. I might give you a license to use my swimming pool one afternoon, but that doesn't mean you can come anytime and have a party in my pool," she told the BBC. "That would exceed the terms of the license."
Regardless of the lawsuit's outcome, this is just one of many cases brought by artists, authors, illustrators, and musicians who are fighting to retain control of their work and livelihoods.
And these cases are likely just the beginning. This week, the financial firm Klarna announced plans to use AI to cut its workforce in half. Some experts predict that 40% of all jobs will eventually be impacted by AI. For Mr. Lehrman and Ms. Sage, however, that concerning future is already unfolding.
"This whole experience has felt so surreal," Ms. Sage said.
"When we thought about artificial intelligence, we imagined it folding our laundry and making us dinner-not pursuing human beings' creative endeavors."
