Matt Lucas and Hugh Bonneville among actors calling for law on AI voice cloning

Actors including Matt Lucas, Hugh Bonneville and Nicola Coughlan have written to the UK government demanding greater protection against their voices being used by AI.

The performers are asking Prime Minister Andy Burnham to introduce legislation which would give every person in the UK a legal right to own their voice.

Voice clones are created by training AI on recordings of real people. Quick versions can be made in minutes from a few seconds of audio, but high-quality copycats tend to require hours.

Audiobook narrator Alice Sockett, who co-founded the campaign, called it "an existential threat to our entire industry".

"My voice is out there in the public domain but completely unprotected," she said.

A government spokesperson told the BBC that, while "digital replicas can be a powerful tool, including for the creative industries," there was also possibility for harm.

"We value and protect human creators, and that is why we have announced we will launch a consultation on how we address these harms, while protecting legitimate innovation", the spokesperson said.

More than 80 performers have signed the letter, with Derry Girls actor Siobhán McSweeney saying she was "deeply worried" that the government was lagging behind.