When AI recreates the female voice, it also rewrites who gets heard |
Voice cloning technology platforms like ElevenLabs allow anyone to replicate a voice using just a few seconds of audio, for a small fee. These technologies are reshaping cultural and artistic expression.
In 2023, Canadian musician Grimes released a clone of her voice, saying that “it’s cool to be fused with a machine”. Similarly, American composer Holly Herndon launched Holly in 2021 as a voice tool that sings back music using a “distinctive processed voice”.
These female-led examples demonstrate working with the creative challenges of voice technologies, and in some ways, they’re nothing new: electronic music pioneer and composer Suzanne Ciani developed a technological approach decades ago to incorporate a male persona, named “Steve”, into her compositions when a male voice was required.
Voice-swapping technologies are also used by some male producers to present as female artists. British researcher and musician Helen Reddington has observed that: “Like the male gaze, the male ear is hidden and its power exercised behind the scenes.”
Reddington wrote that in 2018 in relation to the way that male writer/producers use female singers to reach an audience. But applied to........