Can AI Replace Voice Actors? The TRUTH About AI & VO Work

🎙️ Can AI really replace voice actors… or is that just hype?

AI-generated voices are getting scary good—and fast. But what does that mean for real working voice talent? In this video, we expose how AI is already changing the voiceover industry, the real risks to your career, and what you can do right now to stay ahead of the curve.

If you’re a voice actor wondering how to compete in a world of synthetic voices, this is the video you can’t afford to skip.

🎧 You’ll learn:
– Where AI is replacing voice actors (and where it’s failing)
– How your voice could be cloned without your permission
– Why human talent still matters—and always will
– How to protect your voice, your rates, and your future

👇 Drop a comment: Do YOU think AI will replace voice actors?

🎤 Want to stay ahead of the curve?
Join the VO Pro Community → https://vopro.pro/vopro

🔔 Subscribe for more no-bullshit VO industry insight.

#VoiceActing #AIvoices #VoiceOverBusiness #VoiceOverJobs #CanAIReplaceVoiceActors

_____________________________

▶️ Watch this video next: https://youtu.be/euU8e7_wZfg?si=G7hpGPugKlDWbCl_

SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/@vo-pro?sub_confirmation=1

The VO Freedom Master Plan: https://vopro.pro/vo-freedom-master-plan

The VO Pro Community: https://vopro.app 
Use code You15Tube for 15% off of your membership for life.

The VO Pro Podcast: https://vopro.pro/podcast

7 Steps to Starting and Developing a Career in Voiceover: https://welcome.vopro.pro/7-steps-yt

Move Touch Inspire Newsletter for Voice Actors: https://vopro.pro/move-touch-inspire-youtube

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/vofreedom

The VO Pro Shop: https://vopro.pro/shop

Say Hi on Social: 
https://pillar.io/paulschmidtpro
https://www.instagram.com/vopro.pro
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulschmidtvo/

My voice over website: https://paulschmidtvoice.com

GVAA Rate Guide: http://vorateguide.com

Tools and People I Work with and Recommend (If you use these links to buy something I may earn a commission.):
Recommended Book List with Links: https://amzn.to/3H9sBOO
Gear I Use with Links: https://amzn.to/3V4d3kZ
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

For lead generation and targeting - Apollo.io: https://apollo.grsm.io/yt-paulschmidtpro

Way Better than Linktree: https://pillar.io/referral/paulschmidtpro

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
So, can AI really replace real honest-to-goodness voice actors?
It's a question nobody wanted to ask until AI started sounding kinda good.
Fast forward and now it's everywhere.
Brands are using AI in commercials, corporate training videos being narrated by syntheticspeech, even some audiobook companies are now experimenting with AI-generated narrators.

(00:26):
that's awful.
So what does this mean for real voice actors?
Are we all about to be replaced?
Should we all panic and start looking for new careers?
Not so fast, slow your roll.
Yes, AI is shaking shit up, but the real truth is much more nuanced than that.
So today we're diving deep into how AI specifically is changing voiceover, what itactually means for working professional voice actors, and most importantly, what we can do

(00:52):
to stay competitive.
If you are a voice actor or if you're thinking about getting into the industry and beingone, stick around because this is the conversation you need to pay attention to right now.
So first things first, let's start with the obvious.
AI has, yes, gotten very advanced in the last couple of years.
They used to sound robotic and awkward and unnatural, like the guy from the NationalWeather Service who gives you the thunderstorm warnings, right?

(01:17):
But now, AI can mimic emotion, it can...
replicate specific voices, it can generate entire scripts and read them flawlessly.
At least to the untrained ear.
And that's where things get interesting.
Lots of clients, including the, Well, let's be polite and say the budget-conscious onesare thinking of themselves.

(01:41):
Why pay a human voice actor when I can just type it into the AI bot and it will read itperfectly?
And yeah, that's a real challenge for us as professionals.
But I'm here to tell you, AI is not coming for all voiceover work, period.
Yeah, some genres are being hit a little bit harder than others.
AI is already making huge inroads into things like telephony and IVR and message on hold.

(02:07):
And to be honest, makes total sense.
Low budget e-learning and corporate training.
I tend to think of this more as compliance related stuff where folks weren't interested inquality in the first place.
They're just...
checking a requirement, checking off a box, they really just need to get it out the door.
And yeah, some basic corporate narration too.

(02:28):
Some companies just want good enough.
They don't need it to be quality.
Okay?
But here's where AI still struggles.
Commercial work that still means a damn.
Big brands want an authentic, natural...
human voice.
That work relies on nuance and imperfection and messiness and spontaneity and AI justcan't do that.

(02:50):
Audiobooks also requires emotional nuance.
Once again, AI sucks on ice.
Anything that requires character acting, video games, anime, animation, dubbing, fictionalaudiobooks.
AI can't improv guys, it can't really bring a deep, wide character to life, athree-dimensional character to life.

(03:11):
So yeah, AI is replacing some jobs.
Some of that work, by the way, we were never gonna get anyway, like encyclopedic orarchival content that it never made sense to hire a human voice actor for.
Perfect for AI.
And so far the trend is AI has taken the work that was the bottom of the barrel, the stuffthat didn't require much nuance and didn't really, as a result, pay much in the first

(03:34):
place.
So in here's...
Kind of where things get a little bit sketchy, right?
One of the biggest threats that AI poses to us as professionals is not just competition,but out and out straight up unauthorized voice cloning.
Some voice actors have discovered after the fact that their voice was pirated and wasbeing used in an unauthorized manner and often fed into training for AI synthetic voices.

(04:01):
Some voice actors, as it turns out in retrospect,
signed bad contracts like Remy Michelle Clark.
She signed a contract with Microsoft and it explicitly said they could use her voice forAI training.
She learned a tough lesson and now she tells that story as an example of what can go wrongand I applaud her courage in doing that.
But here's the truth, if you've done anything on the internet and your voice exists in adigital format, you're vulnerable to having your voice cloned.

(04:29):
There's a chance it could be scraped.
cloned and used without your authorization and without your knowledge.
And contracts, well, some companies are already sneaking in AI training clauses intovoiceover contracts.
Meaning if you don't read the fine print, first of all, I'm going to drive to your houseand beat you with a wet noodle.
But secondly, you could be signing away the rights to your own voice forever.

(04:51):
That's real and it's happening right now.
Tech companies are building massive AI voice library.
And they're using everything from YouTube videos, to old audiobooks, to you name it.
And once your voice is in the system, you don't control it anymore.
And what can happen is crap like this.
Let's say they use your AI voice clone to voice a spot for a product that you don'tmorally align with.

(05:16):
How about a company replaces you with you, your own AI voice clone, and now they're noteven paying you.
Or, and this is where I feel for the older generation because they're gonna be a hugevictim of this, maybe your AI voice is pirated and used to voice scam robocalls.
Those are not what-if scenarios.

(05:36):
That crap is happening right now.
So if AI is getting so good, then why are human voice actors still in demand?
Because real human voice actors have three things that I don't think AI will ever have.
Certainly three things that it can't fake number one is emotional intelligence AI doesn'tunderstand emotion.

(05:57):
It just predicts them number two is improvisation Improv AI simply reads scripts.
It can't adapt on the fly to feedback It can't take direction and third and this is thebig one authenticity People connect with real voices people want art to be made by

(06:17):
artists.
They want real and
gritty and authentic and messy and spontaneous and not perfect but hollow.
Alright, let's take commercial voiceover as an example.
Let's say a big brand wants to sell an experience, right?
A feeling, a lifestyle.
AI can read the script, yeah, but it can't make the performance choices the interestingchoices.

(06:41):
that a real actor can make.
Same with video games.
AI can generate the voices, but can it really sound like a battle-hardened warrior withall the nuance that requires?
How about a heartbroken hero?
Maybe a mischievous villain?
Not even close.
And clients know that.
And that's why, outside the current strike, major brands, gaming companies, top productioncompanies, they want quality and they're still hiring human talent.

(07:06):
So what can you do in 2025 and beyond?
to stay ahead of the AI curve.
Number one, in as much as you can, protect your voice legally.
Read every word of every contract and if you have any questions, consult a lawyerwell-versed in AI and well-versed in freelance work.
Number two, never give away unlimited usage rights.

(07:31):
I'll say it again, never give away unlimited usage rights.
Make sure the usage is clearly defined.
and make sure that you get paid fairly for that usage.
Number three, if there's a client that you're auditioning for that you're not absolutelysure of and may not absolutely trust, watermark your audition.

(07:51):
Make it more difficult for them to scrape your voice for AI training.
Is it foolproof?
No, but you can make it inconvenient.
Number two, get better at what AI can't do.
Be the best actor you possibly can be so that you are as connected as possible to thecopy.
Work on taking direction well, on giving directors and producers exactly what they wantwhen they ask the first time.

(08:14):
And lastly, work on your improv skills and your character work.
Work on being unpredictable because AI struggles with anything that isn't predictable.
And lastly, and this comes from the marketing guy, right?
Market yourself as a human, authentic
real voice.
You can't compete with AI on speed and price.

(08:36):
If you thought Fiverr was fast and cheap, it's a whole new ballgame now kids.
That's a losing battle.
Instead, focus on what AI can't do and that is storytelling with subtle nuance.
So is AI replacing voice actors?
No, but it is changing the game.
And those of us who adapt, who protect our work, and who focus on doing what AI cannot doare the ones that are going to thrive.

(09:01):
in this new world.
Generally the only thing I'm ever gonna ask of you because that helps us reach more voiceactors and help more people And I want to hear from you.
Do you think AI is going to replace voice actors?
Drop a comment below or on the blog at vopro.pro And I don't know if I've mentioned thisbefore but I read and respond to every single comment So you will get a response from me.

(09:31):
You might not like it.
We might disagree and that's okay
And if you want to stay ahead of the VO industry, you've got to join the VO Pro Community.
You can get more information on just how to do that at vopro.pro.
As always, thanks so much for your support.
We'll see you back here real soon.