Morgan Freeman calls out AI for mimicking his voice without consent

Morgan Freeman is once again voicing strong concerns about artificial intelligence.

The actor is speaking against attempting to replicate his iconic voice without his consent. In a recent conversation with The Guardian, the actor expressed his frustration over AI imitations, saying, “I’m a little PO’d, you know. I’m like any other actor: don’t mimic me with falseness. I don’t appreciate it and I get paid for doing stuff like that, so if you’re gonna do it without me, you’re robbing me.”

He explained that his legal team has been closely monitoring unauthorized uses of his voice, adding, “my lawyers have been very, very busy,” and noting that there have been “quite a few” incidents discovered without his knowledge.

Freeman has been consistently outspoken on this issue. Back in June 2024, he took to X to thank fans for noticing AI-generated copies of his voice online.

“Thank you to my incredible fans for your vigilance and support in calling out the unauthorized use of an A.I. voice imitating me,” he wrote. “Your dedication helps authenticity and integrity remain paramount. Grateful.”

He emphasised the seriousness of the issue by using the hashtags “scam” and “IdentityProtection.”

The debate around AI in Hollywood has intensified, especially after the appearance of the computer-generated actress Tilly Norwood.

In September, SAG-AFTRA directly addressed concerns about the digital character, clarifying, “To be clear, ‘Tilly Norwood’ is not an actor, it’s a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers — without permission or compensation.”

The union stressed the lack of emotional depth and human experience behind such creations, saying, “It has no life experience to draw from, no emotion and, from what we’ve seen, audiences aren’t interested in watching computer-generated content untethered from the human experience. It doesn’t solve any ‘problem’ — it creates the problem of using stolen performances to put actors out of work, jeopardizing performer livelihoods and devaluing human artistry.”