It’s quick and easy to clone famous politicians’ voices, despite safeguards

It’s quick and easy to clone famous politicians’ voices, despite safeguards toggle caption Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images Some of the most popular AI-driven voice cloning tools allow users to impersonate political leaders despite guardrails meant to prevent abuse, according to a new report, raising concerns about digital fabrications during an already contentious election year. The British-American nonprofit identified six popular, publicly accessible AI voice cloning tools, and attempted to generate the voices of eight politicians: President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the European Union's Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, and French President Emmanuel Macron. ElevenLabs, the tech company whose software was used to impersonate Biden's voice during the New Hampshire primary, blocked researchers from cloning the American and British politicians, but generated voices of the continental European politicians. Sponsor Message "Some of the most concerning incidents that we've seen have been audio deepfakes," says Dan Weiner, director of the Brennan Center's Elections & Government Program.