With the rise of AI voice cloning, voice actors are being abused by the modding communities. As a member of the Skyrim modding scene, I am deeply concerned at the practice of using AI voice cloning to create and distribute non-consensual deepfake pornographic content.
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Abigail Disney: You should tax the wealthy more.
Idiots: IF YOU BELIEVE IN MORE TAXES THEN WHY DO YOU NOT SEND MORE MONEY TO THE GOVERNMENT?
ATTN IDIOTS: One person sending more money to the IRS accomplishes nothing. It's a drop in the ocean. A change to federal law does.
With Starfield around the corner, I believe that and have a responsibility to protect the performers that bring your game worlds to life, and to demand that websites hosting this content remove it immediately.
I have exhausted every possible option to bring this to the attention of both Nexus Mods and Bethesda before deciding to reach out directly to affected performers on Twitter. Bethesda support has ignored three emails.
It's also worth noting that there are already dozens of mods that use AI voice cloning for non-pornographic content; these mods are all made in the same way. Audio clips from the game are ripped and uploaded to ElevenLabs without permission from the original actors.
It's a joke that you're taking too seriously.
I am an avid reader of IGN and heck, my icon here on Twitter is copy and pasted from my IGN Boards icon. It's just a joke that got a little chuckle out of me, not a serious accusation.
Was this really a necessary response to such a benign comment? Sheesh. I wasn't trying to come at him. :/
"Well Tolkien didn't explicitly describe any black elves" apparently = "it is impossible that a black elf exists" to these people, lmao. Nevermind the fact that 80% of the elves mentioned don't get a physical description *AT ALL* because Silmarillion is written like myth.
Using AI cloning to put somebody into porn without their consent is especially malicious, but to be clear, it is wrong no matter what. People have no right to use someone else's voice and upload it to a third party cloning tool without their express consent.
That post and the chilling response I got (with the large majority of commenters supporting the practice) revealed to me that it is not a community I want to be part of unless we make meaningful change. My goal is exactly that; meaningful change.
Not all affected performers are on twitter, but I've tagged who I could.
This is a long shot, but I'm tagging some prominent VO artists in the hopes that this can be signal boosted. If you would consider retweeting, it would be immensely helpful!
Not having the resources to hire an actor does not entitle you to take clips of that actor without their permission and feed it into an AI program that generates clips saying anything you desire.
Here's a google doc with a list of offending content. I am updating it as we speak to specify which mod(s) use your likeness.
I have made a google doc with more information + links to offending content.
docs.google.com/document/d/1Ml
Because you don't have the right. It's as simple as that.
Again, even ElevenLabs, the very tool that enables this, reminds you multiple times, makes you tick a checkbox acknowledging that you're only allowed to use clips you own/have the legal rights to with their cloning tool.
We only have the rights that Bethesda grants in their TOS.
AI voice cloning isn't a modification of the original file. It is uploading a file to a third party service to generate a new file. This is not a permission that is granted by Bethesda's TOS for their mod tools.
has also been affected. The offending mod can be found here: nexusmods.com/skyrimspeciale
This mod repurposes her voice using AI cloning to create pornographic content. This is done by taking clips of her and uploading them to the ElevenLabs voice cloning service.
Imagine how many times the moderators of Neogaf have threatened something like this that we *don't* know about.
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Not this time sorry.
People who modded that board told me personally they would end my career. So I am taking the gloves off for this one. twitter.com/ddowza/status/
No, it absolutely is not. The EULA dorectly permits very specific editing using developer-provided tools. It does not in any way grant you a license to upload Bethesda-owned files to a third party service.
I am a mod author. We read the TOS.
If we lived in a world where stealing a bike meant getting an exact duplicate of the bike without and leaving the original intact for others to buy, this would be a solid analogy.
Piracy sucks. But the "you wouldn't download a CAR" thing is the WORST argument against it.
I thank you very much for helping to signal boost this. I believe that the only way this will be resolved is if more and more people become aware and are able to take action.
I have a google doc showing the offending content (so far):
I thank you very sincerely for the signal boost! I think the only path to having this content banned outright starts with shining a flashlight on it and letting people know that it's happening.
I have a google doc that has links to examples.
I have reached out to Bethesda in every possible way to bring this to your attention. I've sent emails, DM'd community managers, used Twitter. Still, these mods remain available on Nexus. Why haven't you stepped in/demand removal?
For affected performers who have a public-facing email address online, I have sent emails directly to bring the matter to your attention. But as it turns out, it's hard for fans like me to get in touch directly with voice actors!
I am EXTREMELY happy to hear that it was helpful and that you were able to request removal. I am truly sorry that you had to go through this. Thank YOU for helping to spread the word about this issue! I hope Nexus will eventually agree to ban the practice outright.
Who would have thought that the person who thought it was okay to not feed their hungry daughter for six hours until she performed a trick for him would turn out to be a terrible person?"
I, for one, am shocked.
Cool way to treat folks who supported you: Locking optimization for your game behind a $40 paywall and not fixing it for existing owners.
Furthermore, Bethesda does not own our mods (the EULA explicitly grants ownership to mod developers). They are afforded a perpetual license to use some aspects of your mod, though.
A google doc is now available containing all abusive links that I know of. As time goes on, I will add any further offending content that I encounter to this list:
He got paid to make the art for a company who owns the art and can do literally whatever they want with it after paying him specifically for that purpose.
Additional offending content has been added to the spreadsheet for you two.
has also been affected, her voice being used in mods that are not pornographic in nature but nevertheless clone her voice via AI.
has now been affected. More and more performers are being abused every day.
The content that affects her has been added to the spreadsheet:
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Only a simple majority (51 votes) is needed for the 14th to be invoked.
Democrats could do it on their own.
Nothing says "I support free speech" like disallowing people from even mentioning that they use a different platform *in addition* to Twitter.
Voting for somebody who is dead is not anywhere near an "equal disregard" compared to Trump and his cronies attempting to undermine our democracy to keep a tyrant in power against the wishes of the people.
If you think those two things are equal... I don't know what to tell you.
This practice is disgusting and must be stopped. Glad someone out there is making the public aware of this.
This decline is completely normal and expected for a single player RPG two months after launch.
75k concurrent players on and playing at any given time means that *millions* of different players are playing every day.
"It will always show up somewhere so we might as well let it be everywhere!" is nonsense. Nexus Mods is a reputable site and the largest platform for mod distribution. It should not be tolerated there, and "shady sites will do it anyway!" is not the gotcha you think it is.
I am genuinely so happy to put this era of politics behind us. The last four years have been some of the most vile, hateful, and damaging years in American history.
To the people with hatred in their hearts who have been emboldened by the Trump era: it's over.
No, the AI is not a sentient bot and you're being incredibly disingenuous.
The people who are using AI to create deepfake porn of real people without their consent are absolutely abusing those individuals.
Why is it bad to discriminate against BABIES because of the color of their skin?
Did you seriously just ask that question?
I am not blaming an entire community. I am blaming very specific people who are creating deepfake porn without the consent of the actors whose voices they are using without permission.
I even have an ongoing list of offending content:
Been a huge fan since long before the rise of AI art and her activism. Her experience and education on this topic is abundantly clear. I am so glad that she used her platform to speak out against what is tantamount to blatant theft of copyrighted works. twitter.com/MAiJiNTHEARTIS
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This is a really great article about the issue that, very correctly, places the emphasis on the performers themselves and how they feel about the issue. I am hopeful that we can make some good change in the community as they continue to speak out against the practice. Thank you!
Part of what makes this so evil is that so many performers don't even know it's happening. If more happens in the future, I will be sure to tag you.
I would like Nexus Mods to ban the practice from the platform and remove it when it is reported to them. Non-consensual deepfake porn is evil. Consent matters.
Publishers (namely Bethesda in this case) are the ones providing us with mod tools. Nobody is coming for your mods.
"Commenting on hyper-sexualization" isn't bold or interesting if you do it by... sexualizing the 11-year-old girls.
It's just gross. twitter.com/TessaThompson_
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Dang bro, the courage to go out there and just say words without having any idea what they mean.
I think you might not know what the word fascist means, because it has nothing to do with unfollowing people on twitter, insulting them in DMs, or disliking NFTs.
I'm a mod author in the Bethesda scene and you're 100% right. The fact that so many members of our community value their own gratification above the consent of others is nauseating.
You know what the craziest thing is? They made me a very similar offer. I also turned them down. Here's a screenshot of the email reply I sent them as proof:
Excellent commentary by . People act like they have an inherent right to clone performers' voices, and when they're told they don't, they get angry/defensive.They blame the voice actors for speaking out instead of themselves for using someone's voice without consent.
Shameless. "Wrongly banned him" when he was stoking an attack that led to the irrevocable loss of human life.
You're either too dishonest to admit that you're okay with people who you don't like dying, or you just don't care. Both possibilities paint you as a loathsome coward.
Good to know that 47,000 fraudulent claims were paid out, but I've been trying to call unemployment literally every day since march after being wrongfully denied and haven't been able to get through even once, and never receiving a callback! :)
Hillary conceded a race that was A) less close in terms of popular vote and B) equally close in terms of the electoral college.
Saying that she set a standard of refusing to concede when she conceded *the next day* is an actual lie. So... you are openly lying without shame.
it's been quite a few months, just wondering if you guys are still attempting to shop Raised by Wolves around to other networks/if there's anything you could share about it. Was my favorite show on TV :(
Your voice actors are being abused. I have contacted Bethesda support several times to no avail. When will someone at Bethesda do something about this?
Hey again -- just as a heads-up, I have published a google doc that contains a list of offending content. I plan to update this doc going forward as more and more of these abusive mods pop up:
I for one am shocked that a YouTuber went somewhere with another person.
Why does he need anybody else? Are we not good enough??
I, too love it when developers lie and backtrack on their promises to squeeze money out of their fans #Overwatch reddit.com/r/Overwatch/co
And to think that it turned out that the Snyder Cut never existed in the first place and required millions of dollars of reshoots and new scenes to create!
This is extremely important. Voice actors large and small are having their voices fed into AI voice cloning tools with no consent to create all manner of content. Nobody deserves to have convincing fakes of their voice being created without consent.
AP still has AZ called for Biden: wusa9.com/elections-2020
CNN never called AZ for Biden to begin with.
Why did you just completely fabricate this?
Thank you for signal boosting this! I firmly believe that the only way this can be solved is if enough people make it clear that this is unacceptable, and that starts with people being informed.
There's a spreadsheet with offending content (so far):
You cannot be this dumb. Zooming in on an image linearly scales the image on the screen of your device -- what was once one pixel becomes four of the same color pixel, and so on. No new information is added, the image is just stretched across your display.
Yeah bro the largest tabletop gaming series in history is really "failing to win over" a playerbase. That's legit.
I COMPLETELY agree. Using someone's voice for NSFW content is especially malicious and the focus of my tweet, but the people in the modding community (of which I am a member) have completely forgotten that they have absolutely no right to clone someone's voice for ANY reason.
"Ratted out?" If you weren't vaccinated you have a responsibility to inform others of that before close contact because it was potentially dangerous to their children.
If you don't want to get vaccinated that is your choice. Endangering other people is not your choice to make.
There is a special ring of hell reserved for people who hunt and kill endangered animals because they somehow think that makes them cool or impressive.
But I don't really know what else I could possibly expect from Don Jr. and Eric Trump. Reprehensible.
The mod was also re-listed on Nexus Mods after the mod author removed the voices. This is a loophole: he keeping the mod on Nexus with no voices for max exposure, then telling his audience to go to the LoversLab link to get the deepfake clips. It's horrible.
I hope this isn't rude to ask, but would you consider retweeting/signal boosting this tweet below? I'm not sure if you've already seen it, but it's an issue that I am very passionate about. I have been humbled by the VO community's response to the thread.
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With the rise of AI voice cloning, voice actors are being abused by the modding communities. As a member of the Skyrim modding scene, I am deeply concerned at the practice of using AI voice cloning to create and distribute non-consensual deepfake pornographic content.
Nowhere in the EULA is it permitted to upload Bethesda's files to third-party services to create new content. There is a line about you being able to *modify* character likenesses, but the EULA only applies to the Creation Kit.
"I believe the use of AI synthesis for non-consensual voice cloning and NSFW mods/deepfakes should be seen as the violation that it is," "In my opinion, this should be treated as similar to revenge porn.
, thank you for speaking out.
Honestly man, this is just not funny. A 19-year-old boy who didn't even want to be there is gone forever. A boy who's biggest concern was bringing a rubik's cube with him so he could solve it at the bottom of the sea.
I really don't like seeing people make jokes about this.
You can't just declare that these species have been "misclassified" and that they are actually the same species and expect to be taken seriously. That's not how taxonomy works.
The worst part is that the list in that image is not by any means exhaustive. Nexus does not provide good tools for discovering these types of mods, and there could easily be other affected performers that I am unaware of simply because I haven't stumbled on the mods yet.
The only way this will be solved is if enough people talk about it and demand that Bethesda/Nexus Mods put an end to it, so thank you! I am terribly sorry to hear that your friends are among the affected performers.
My brother in Christ, if you need to "trick yourself" into drinking water, you have a problem that a sticker cannot resolve.
The craziest thing is that these same people could easily use their own voice or consenting volunteers who are comfortable with having their voice cloned and the ethical issue would disappear. But they don't want to do that. They only want to steal the voices they know.
Are you serious?
Do you think revenge or deepfake porn is only harmful if the victim knows about it? No, it is abuse no matter what. Same exact situation here: people releasing porn using the likenesses of real people without their consent.
Re: JK Rowling
Why is it that nobody is ever against "cancel culture" until they say something really stupid or hateful and then have to live with the consequences? 🤔
Daily reminder that YouTube refuses to ban somebody who turns two people being murdered into a joke just because he makes them a lot of money.
Kyle Rittenhouse will walk. Crowder makes millions. Two people are irrevocably gone from this world. There is no justice in this world.
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Kyle Rittenhouse challenge: can you make the shot that he did in Kenosha? Testing it with the Crowder Crew Live now! youtube.com/watch?v=ncvSby
Agreed. People aren't born believing that murdering people in the name of vigilantism was okay. You don't end up in that place overnight on your own. It's the result of going down the far-right rabbit hole and being encouraged by the others who have already done it.
Everybody is talking about Jenna Ryan getting 60 days prison like it's some kind of victory, but that is not nearly a harsh enough sentence for the crime of insurrection. She still got off easy.
I would be happy to DM or email specific links to offending content. It is very challenging for people outside our community to locate the content itself but I have those links and examples that I can send directly to you.
NOT the same. The Nexus version has been in the works for months, it's coincidence that both were in the works/released at the same time.
There has been ONE confirmed death in India from the vaccine, due to an allergic reaction: indianexpress.com/article/india/
COVID has killed 3.82 million.
Don't buy into misinformation, don't spread misinformation.
Now imagine if the human could only imitate another human by taking voice clips that he does not own and repurposing them without the consent of the original creators. Which, incidentally, is what AI voice cloning is and how it works.
Your analogy is not apt.
If anybody wants to read a first-hand experience with a teen sent to one of these troubled youth camps turned into a compelling web comic, I cannot recommend Joe vs. Elan School enough: elan.school
Here's a google doc with a list of offending content. I am updating it as we speak to specify which mods use your likeness.
docs.google.com/document/d/1Ml
Okay? That doesn't change anything. You said people had the right to do this. They don't. It's that simple.
He's ignoring that neither Bethesda games nor ElevenLabs itself gives people permission to use the voices of in-game performers without their permission. TheEULA for mod tools does not allow for uploading of unmodified Bethesda assets to a third-party service to create new clips.
75k concurrents two months after launch is enormously successful. Elden Ring is a MP title designed to be very replayable, Hogwarts is more of a one-and-done experience.
Comparing this to other large singleplayer games, and a decline like this is totally normal. (1/2)
Thank you for signal boosting! I've been trying to take action in the community for the better part of two months and it's impossible without people sharing and making others aware.
There's a google doc here with a list of offending content (so far):