Why AI Will Never Copy Your Voice
- Brainz Magazine
- Oct 21
- 7 min read
Updated: Oct 22
Sharon Wright, the founder of Gorgeous Hearts Coaching, is passionate about helping empty nesters to regain their vitality, realise their soul purpose, and enjoy meaningful relationships. She is a qualified coach and naturopath with over 10 years of experience in somatic voice work (a modality that facilitates alignment to the soul).
At first sight, this title may seem naive. It’s already a fact that AI can copy any voice accurately, if not exactly as it sounds. There are already scams that copy voices of loved ones for nefarious purposes, as well as overwriting copyright laws by imitating celebrities as they battle to maintain ownership of what they’ve always considered to be their unique voice. But before we look at AI as a kind of wicked Ursula stealing Ariel’s voice, as in the story of ‘The Little Mermaid,’ perhaps we need to redefine what ‘your voice’ really is and what is actually being copied.
Are our voices really unique?
Some voices sound very similar, but could each voice be as unique as our fingerprints?
Someone speaks, cries, screams, laughs, giggles, whispers, and we hear the sound. This perfect biological machine we call the human body mechanically produces sound that is identified by the timbre, tone, resonance, and pitch range of a voice. There are many physiological factors that can affect the sound of our voices, which can change as we age, such as body shape, vocal anatomy, and problems due to overuse or force, such as nodules, polyps, and neurological diseases. But at any stage of our vocal life, the sound that it creates can be copied or imitated.
I’ve taught many people to sing, and one thing I’ve often heard is, “I want to sound more like ‘X’,” and although my answer is always along the lines of maximizing your own unique voice, it is possible to imitate and emulate qualities in a voice that we enjoy listening to. Some people have amazing skills in this area. A well-known comedian with an alias comes to mind. I close my eyes, and I can’t tell the difference between the sound of their voice and who they’re imitating. But for most of us, we need to start forming a bond with our own voice and maximize its potential.
Why do we want to impersonate others? And more interestingly, why does AI want to?
Well, it’s funny when someone impersonates another, especially in the caricature way that exaggerates the unique inflections of someone we’re all accustomed to hearing. But I don’t think it’s as funny when artificial intelligence starts sounding like our favorite movie star.
Although there are still many robotic-sounding AI recordings on the internet, the ability to imitate a voice exactly already exists and is used. I don’t think anyone can really tell the difference. The question is, why would we want this? Is it useful?
It’s a fact that AI voice simulation is developing at a crazy speed. The a16z report cites a 25% increase in the AI global voice market demand since last year. The call for AI voice-enabled apps, the reliance on voice assistants in many industries, as well as our day-to-day convenience, from setting reminders to controlling when our heating will come on from our mobile phones to call centers and messenger bots, has made it convenient and cheap. It’s an effective tool, but simulating the sound of a person’s unique voice is quite another matter.
Unfortunately, as much as I wrack my brains, the only thing that comes to mind is scamming, undermining, creating havoc, and manipulating. Could it be that we have moved so far away from intimacy and love as a society that we acquiesce to the manipulation of hearing a ‘known’ celebrity voice when you ask it what your dream meant, or the false self-pandering of asking for psychological support from the voice of someone who inspires you?AI may be useful, but if it’s used to scam people or manipulate political agendas, we should be asking why it’s so easy to be manipulated and how we can protect ourselves from this invasion. If anyone reading this has a positive reason to share, please get in touch. I’m open to learning more.
But for now, and in line with the title of this blog, I feel that there is one thing AI cannot copy. And while this may seem impossible with what is already manifest, I present another question. Can something unique be reproduced energetically? If everything is energy, what energy is behind a voice? Or put simply, is there more to a voice than just what we hear?
Why do vibrations matter?
When I’m teaching English pronunciation to Spanish students, we often focus on enunciating and stressing words in a way that imitates the English stress-timed rhythm of speech. Without that rhythm, it’s often impossible to understand what a Spanish person is reading, as their own pronunciation of the word is imposed on the English word, especially if the content is not well understood. It’s amazing what a difference there is between sounding read words from a page and speaking with a deeper understanding of what is read with correct pronunciation. Furthermore, when a student feels strongly about what they’re talking about, they automatically pronounce better than when they are reading meaningless text. It may sound obvious, but their speech comes alive because it comes from a lived experience, or it’s from that which triggers ingrained emotional reactions.
AI can copy emotions. But can it copy the energy of a person’s essence, the way they live, the way they express themselves in all ways, and the way they feel about things? In other words, can AI copy the essence of a person?
The answer is a clear 'no', at least not yet. But what does this mean?
Does this mean you may never get scammed again?
Disclaimer. I’m not saying that this will stop you from being scammed. First of all, whatever you feel about AI and its uses, it’s up to each of us to feel with more sensitivity what our authentic voice is and what it is in others so that we can be more responsible as things around us become less safe and unclear.
So, a question. If it’s not sound or even emotions that define a voice, what else can we perceive that can identify it? Surely that will give us some clue as to how to protect ourselves from lies…Even though this can seem tricky, we just need to approach this with the same attention and be as wily as the scammers themselves and discern what really comes through a voice. If we aren’t accustomed to reading this and being attentive, i.e., present when we truly listen to a person, we can’t suddenly expect to discern what is behind a voice.
And here lies the purpose of this blog. We need to truly listen, not only with our ears, because our ears can be fooled. We need to be more present and aware so that our often distracted and smothered sensitivity gets unlayered and comes back to life.
Can we be lied to if we are aware and present?
Well, perhaps, but it’s a lot more difficult. Many people say that they felt something was ‘off’ before they fell for a scam.
The reasons they fell for the scam are not in the remit of this blog, but scammers rely on emotional manipulation and fear-based tactics, which can be more easily detected when one is alert and fully present.
A little while ago, a beautiful young lady was viciously attacked and killed on a train in North Carolina by a crazed man. Watching the video, if you have the courage, it’s plain to see that everyone on that train was absorbed in their phones. No one was aware of such a monstrous crime about to happen, and nobody even seemed to realize after it occurred, evidenced by the fact that no one got up to help her. Perhaps if the young girl had not had earphones in while looking at her phone and instead had read the carriage, she wouldn’t have sat with her back to that man. I don’t know, of course, but I was totally horrified by what occurred, as were many. It’s certainly something to ponder on, because the way AI is going, we are all going to need to be far more sensitive and aware of our surroundings.
How does your voice help you to be more focused?
The amazing thing about your voice is that it can help you to be more aware and read more. It is a constant vibration within your body that you connect to in all your interactions, bringing you more and more into an alive expressiveness that helps you to focus, listen more carefully, and be more astute about what you divulge about yourself. When you are with your body, fully so, you feel ON, focused, and ready for anything.
Just breathe and feel your body. Breathe in while releasing your stomach and feel how the breath is lower down in your body. Let out a vowel sound slowly and feel deeply within your body where you can sense its vibrations. Get to know your voice more and more so that it becomes an anchor to your in-body presence in every conversation.
This kind of awareness of your voice leads you to a place deep within you that is authentic and feels like home. It’s your soul expressed rather than a sound in reaction to what is received.
Can AI copy your voice?
So, can AI copy your voice? Well, it can certainly copy your sound but never your voice. Your voice is something that is not just a sound but a whole way of expressing that brings something unique to this world, while AI is a soulless copy. It may be very clever, but it can never emulate the intimacy, joy, grace, harmony, and love of a soul-led life.
If you’d like to explore how your voice can change your life, join my Facebook group. I continuously offer workshops to introduce people to this transformational modality.
What’s one small way you can love your authentic voice today?
Read more from Sharon Wright
Sharon Wright, Somatic Voice & Relationship Coach
Sharon Wright spent many years searching for true meaning and love in her life. After many spiritual detours that nearly destroyed her marriage, she learned that her body was a way to connect to true love, aka the soul. She has since developed and shared techniques to facilitate that reconnection via awareness of the vibrational integrity of the voice. She both coaches and mentors her clients, empty nesters who often feel alone after their kids have left home, to manage anxiety and connect more deeply with their partners. One of her main tenets, that the vibrations of the voice can harm or heal, depending on the energy one is aligned to, brings focus to heart-led living for purposeful and evolving relationships.
