In July 2021, I received my first request to fix a voice-over project in which a company tried to use artificial intelligence, but it didn't sound right. It's become a regular part of my work, and I receive up to four requests a month. Redoing what an AI voice has failed to do is very time-consuming.

I charge SAG-AFTRA union rates or above for my work

Depending on where a commercial voice-over will be used and the length of the piece, I can earn up to $1,500 for a project, which breaks down to roughly $500 an hour.

If I keep getting projects where I have to redo the sloppy job of an AI voice, I will triple my voice-over rates. It's way more time and effort than my traditional voice-over projects.

It took me about three years and $10,000 in training to perfect my commercial voice, and the styles of commercial reads change every few years. There's a nuance to voice-over performances. AI voices can't be directed to keep up with it.

Fixing an AI ad is like working backward

Usually, when creating a commercial, marketing teams record the voice-over first and then add the video to match. With AI voices, a video has already been produced, so I have to match the speed that AI created and still make it sound good.

I've done a lot of political ads, and the client always wants to fit as many accomplishments as possible about their candidate into the allotted 30 seconds. It's a lot of work to ensure I can say everything on time.

I've learned how to adjust my reading speed and tone to fit the number of words needed into 30 seconds. AI can't vary its speed or sound natural if you try to speed it up to fit. An AI voice-over can easily become an unsalvageable mess.

AI voices end up costing more

AI makes a lot of common mistakes. There's usually a word or two that just isn't right — brand names and names of people are often pronounced incorrectly.

Another common AI mistake is not knowing what to emphasize. AI voices can give a casual, boring read that most marketers think will be fine, but they can't change tone or enthusiasm.

As a voice actor, I can't fix the one word AI said wrong. The voices won't match. The whole thing must be thrown out and started again. When your goal was to save time and money, you lose in both areas.

Beware the legal ramifications of using AI voices

There's also a good chance that if you're using an AI voice, it's been stolen. AI voice data is trained on many voices of people who never gave permission.

Groups such as NAVA (The National Association of Voice Actors) are working to include a clause in voice-over contracts that says that you cannot use any recordings created to be sold for AI training data, but that's not stopping some tech companies from using whatever they can find.

While there's no precedent for unauthorized AI voice usage, Bette Midler and Tom Waits have received $400,000 and more than $2 million, respectively, for sing-alike performances of their voices in commercials. Corporations should avoid using AI voiceovers if they want to ensure the voices they use won't get them into legal trouble down the road.

I started a company to help

I started a company this year named Brand Voice Consulting that focuses on the many aspects of marketing, including voice-over, because companies often don't realize what an important part of their campaign it really is. You want your brand to come across as authentic, and voice-over is a part of being able to do that.

I don't think correcting AI voice-overs will be the biggest part of my work in the future. I expect companies to learn the problems pretty quickly after trying AI voice-overs.

Be careful if you think AI is the miracle to marketing you were hoping for because you may be the next victim to have to hire me to fix your AI voice-over nightmare.

Bailey Varness is a marketing consultant, brand-voice strategist, digital-marketing speaker, and voice expert.