Understanding Posthumous Rights in the Age of AI
Before Franz Kafka passed away in 1924, he entrusted his friend and literary executor, Max Brod, with a simple yet profound request: burn all of Kafka’s unpublished writings and papers. Fortunately for the literary world, Brod largely ignored this wish, leading to the posthumous publication of works such as The Castle and The Trial, which ultimately contributed to the term “Kafkaesque.” Kafka’s situation raises critical questions regarding the rights of artists, musicians, writers, and celebrities over their creations after they die. This discourse is increasingly vital as we advance into the age of artificial intelligence, where not only might someone’s work continue to exist, but so too may their actual voice.
The Emergence of AI Voice Technology
The AI audio startup ElevenLabs has recently rolled out an “Iconic Voices” marketplace, allowing companies to legally license AI-generated versions of well-known voices — both living and deceased — for advertisements and other content. Notably, actors like Matthew McConaughey and Michael Caine have embraced this technology. McConaughey, who is an investor in ElevenLabs, intends to use his synthetic voice to translate his “Lyrics of Livin’” newsletter into Spanish, showcasing the technology’s potential for localizing content globally. Caine, one of England’s most celebrated actors, describes his participation as enhancing human storytelling rather than replacing it.
The Ethical Considerations of AI Voices
As unusual as it may seem to imagine an AI replicating Caine’s distinct Cockney accent, at least he had the agency to agree to this project while alive. However, ElevenLabs has also secured estate agreements that allow for the generation of voices from historical figures, including Judy Garland, James Dean, Maya Angelou, and even Alan Turing, the pioneering computer scientist. This approach is significantly more nuanced than the holographic portrayal of late artists, such as Tupac Shakur at Coachella in 2012. Nowadays, we are producing new vocal renditions of individuals who can no longer provide consent.
The advantages of synthetic voices are clear: they are less costly than staging hologram tours and more scalable than hiring high-profile narrators. With a relatively modest archive, creators can generate hours of audio that convincingly mimics the original voice. ElevenLabs maintains that its marketplace routes all content through the rights holders of deceased figures to address ethical concerns, ensuring that heirs are compensated. Despite this operational model being an improvement over unrestricted deepfake technologies, it inevitably transforms voices into marketable assets, shifting the role of estates to that of product managers for a digital version of the deceased.
The Kafka Lesson: Securing Creative Control
This situation serves as a contemporary Kafka lesson. For renowned individuals keen on controlling how AI technology utilizes their voice after death, it’s crucial to engage an estate lawyer to formalize their wishes. Key considerations include: Should a synthetic voice be permitted after death? What types of applications are acceptable? (Documentaries and archival projects versus advertisements and political content). Additionally, who will have ultimate decision-making authority — a literary executor, family council, or an independent trustee? If one wishes to avoid leaving the fate of their voice to the whims of a future board meeting, it is essential to address these questions now, before their name is mentioned in the Oscars “In Memoriam” segment.
Kafka’s legacy serves as an argument that sometimes overriding an artist’s final wishes can serve the greater good. However, individuals wishing to circumvent uncertainty regarding their posthumous voice should take inspiration from British fantasy novelist Terry Pratchett, who in 2017 had a hard drive containing his unfinished works ceremoniously flattened by a steamroller. That’s one way to ensure no one can reconstruct what you left behind.
A version of this story originally appeared in the Future Perfect newsletter. Sign up here!
Swati Sharma
Vox Editor-in-Chief
Image Credit: www.vox.com
