When AI brings voices back to life

Artificial intelligence technology is advancing rapidly, and companies are being tempted to adopt these new tools, often to save money. A few weeks ago, the start-up Eleven Labs caused a stir in France. Our neighbours are still fond of dubbing their films, and the stars have a dedicated French voice for all their films. Sylvester Stallone, for example, was dubbed for the French version by Alain Dorval for a long time. He died in 2024, but the start-up Eleven Labs tried to clone his voice, with the family's agreement, for a trial run.

The trailer was ultimately unconvincing, but it was enough to unleash the wrath of the French media and fans. It has to be said that the start-up had first announced in a press release (quickly withdrawn from all its social networks) that the entire film had been dubbed by the cloned voice, which was not the case. The family of the deceased actor later clarified that they had not given their consent for anything other than a test. But who owns a person's voice, does the family have a right to it? Can the studios exploit the voice of one of their protégés without the person having any say in the matter? Is AI good enough to replace dubbing actors for an entire film? How do the main players plan to work with these new tools in the future?