Marques Brownlee, known through his channel name MKBHD, went on a rant on social media when he found that someone used an AI version of his voice in an ad without permission or license. On October 14, 2024, with over 17 million subscribers and a big following online, the last thing to do is mince words. “Scummy” and “shady” were words Brownlee used against the company’s move of blatant framing of his identity for marketing.
In his online posts, MKBHD points out that what has really set tongues wagging is a case of ethics and morality involving selling by cloning the voice and likeness of influential and celebrity individuals through generative AI technology. What Brownlee did find, though, was that companies often suffered little to no consequences for these clear violations beyond public shaming.
It also sparked debate regarding the misuse of generative AI in matters such as voice replication for commercial purposes. With grievingly rapid development since 2022, reproducing voice and likeness uses without the consent of the subjects raises serious ethical and legal questions. Brownlee began his criticism by underlining that he wasn’t alone in this experience, referring to other similar incidents when other content creators’ voices or images had been similarly cloned without permission.
Brownlee also discusses how much more regulation is required in the digital world. While some platforms take the first steps-such as YouTube, which has created rules for dealing with AI-generated content impersonating people-there is much more that can be done regarding application. As it is now, creators such as MKBHD have little protection against their digital identities being stolen and used without permission by unscrupulous companies.
Certainly not the first case Brownlee has had to deal with, earlier this 2024 year another company used his likeness in an AI-powered chatbot without permission. That was when he formerly spoke to the potential dangers of AI’s knack for replicating a person’s persona and raised alarms about the greater implications these technologies could pose were they to go unchecked.
A paranoia like this-most saliently demonstrated through the improved AI technology day in, day out-and fears articulated by creators like MKBHD mirror an increasing insecurity toward how their digital identities can be used against their will. The incident is now stirring new demands for vast legal frameworks that would force companies to take responsibility for their use of AI when mimicry of voices and likenesses is done without explicit consent.
