JUDY GARLAND NARRATES BOOKS FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE THANKS TO AI
- London tech firm ElevenLabs is using AI to replicate the deceased celebrities
- READ MORE: The creepy technologies bringing dead celebrities back to 'life'
Her place in film history was secured when she famously sang 'Somewhere over the Rainbow' in 'The Wizard of Oz'.
Now, fans of Judy Garland can continue to listen to her voice from beyond the grave, as part of a new deal to narrate audiobooks using artificial intelligence.
ElevenLabs, a London-based business launched by two Polish entrepreneurs, said it had reached deals with the estates of Ms Garland and Sir Laurence Olivier to clone their voices.
Users who download an app will then be able to pick celebrities – including those who are no longer alive – to narrate their favourite books, articles and even PDFs.
‘It's exciting to see our mother's voice available to the countless millions of people who love her,’ said Liza Minnelli, Ms Garland's daughter and representative of her estate.
‘Our family believes that this will bring new fans to Mama, and be exciting to those who already cherish the unparalleled legacy that Mama gave and continues to give the world.’
Listeners will also be able to select the voice of James Dean, the Rebel Without a Cause actor who died in 1955, and American icon Burt Reynolds, who died in 2018.
Dustin Blank, of ElevenLabs, said: ‘Judy Garland, James Dean, Burt Reynolds and Sir Laurence Olivier are some of the most celebrated actors in history.
‘We deeply respect their legacy and are honoured to have their voices as part of our platform.
‘Adding them to our growing list of narrators marks a major step forward in our mission of making content accessible in any language and voice.’
ElevenLabs was founded by London-based Mati Staniszewski and former Google engineer Piotr Dabkowski.
It has already raised millions of pounds and has been valued at more than $1 billion (£783 million).
Aside from celebrities, users can choose voices such as a ‘Middle-aged American male’ and ‘Upbeat millennial’.
Its website reads: ‘Immerse yourself in the the text through our life-like voices.
‘Whether you’re looking for a soothing night-time story of a crisp reading of the news.’
The deal is the latest example of initiatives to bring celebrities ‘back to life’ through the use of 'generative' AI models, which are trained with real audio of a person's voice before being instructed to 'speak' fresh words in their style.
Last year, however, the threat of AI triggered a 118-day strike by Hollywood actors amid fears studios could replace them with the technology.
However, not all forms of AI in the music industry have been built to digitally replicate the sound of artists.
Paul McCartney and film director Peter Jackson used an AI tool called MAL to isolate John Lennon's voice from a 1970s home demo and render it 'crystal clear'.
MAL – which can be trained to identify different instruments such as guitar, piano and vocals and separate them – let him and Ringo Starr finish the 'last Beatles song', which hit the top of the singles chart in November.
Technology is also being used in other ways in the entertainment industry; Michael Jackson and the rapper Tupac have been projected as holograms at live shows after their deaths.
Meanwhile, Swedish band ABBA – who are all still alive – earn money through holograms performing a show in London.
Read more 2024-07-05T13:44:16Z dg43tfdfdgfd