{"id":369098,"date":"2025-08-24T06:13:16","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T06:13:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/369098\/"},"modified":"2025-08-24T06:13:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T06:13:16","slug":"victory-for-scots-voiceover-artist-as-scotrail-scraps-ai-clone-announcer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/369098\/","title":{"rendered":"Victory for Scots voiceover artist as ScotRail scraps ‘AI clone’ announcer"},"content":{"rendered":"

The SNP<\/a>‘s nationalised rail service is scrapping the use of its AI<\/a> station \u2018announcer\u2019 following a row with a renowned Scots voiceover artist.<\/p>\n

In an embarrassing climbdown, ScotRail is set to remove the AI voice of \u2018Iona\u2019, which was based on that of real-life actor Gayanne Potter, after complaints from the public and \u2018very concerned\u2019 ministers.<\/p>\n

In May trained voiceover professional Ms Potter from Edinburgh<\/a> hit out at the company after learning her voice data had been introduced on Scotland\u2019s trains without her permission.<\/p>\n

ScotRail initially insisted it had no plans to change the voice – claiming Ms Potter\u2019s dispute was with a foreign company called Readspeaker that held her voice data from a recording in 2021.<\/p>\n

Now, in a victory for the actor, The Daily Mail can reveal an \u2018alternative voice\u2019 is being sourced by Transport Scotland.<\/p>\n

The move was last night welcomed by her union, Equity, who said: \u2018Gayanne Potter would welcome ScotRail changing the Iona voice.<\/p>\n

\u2018As a union, Equity has serious concerns about the use of AI in performance and audio work. We are advocating a system based on transparency, consent and fair remuneration for professional artists.\u2019<\/p>\n

And Scots Tory MSP Sandesh Gulhane said: \u2018The SNP should be championing homegrown talent, not overlooking the pressures this sector faces or deferring action until flaws are exposed.<\/p>\n

\"Actor <\/p>\n

Actor Gayanne Potter hit out after ScotRail used an AI version of her voice without permission<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The ‘AI clone’ was called Iona and was based on voice data recorded by Ms Potter in 2021<\/p>\n

\"ScotRail <\/p>\n

ScotRail initially claimed it had no plans to change the AI voice despite Ms Potter’s concerns<\/p>\n

\u2018ScotRail must replace the artificial AI voice currently used in announcements with authentic Scottish voices, delivered by skilled Scottish voice actors<\/a>.\u2019<\/p>\n

The row emerged after Ms Potter realised Readspeaker had used her voice data to create a text-to-speech programme fronted by an AI-generated Scottish character called Iona.<\/p>\n

It was only after she read Press reports that she learned the voice, based on her own, was being introduced across ScotRail trains.<\/p>\n

Ms Potter then shared an angry post online accusing the nationalised train operator of dismissing her concerns, asking: \u2018Why continue to choose a dreadful AI version of me when I\u2019m right here?\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s not about money,\u2019 she said at the time, adding: \u2018It\u2019s about my identity. I feel violated. My voice may be something I use as a tool, but it\u2019s also my personal data and I should have control over that.\u2019<\/p>\n

Amid widespread debate about the move to use the AI voice, 78 members of the public complained to ScotRail, freedom of information responses show.<\/p>\n

ScotRail – which was brought under public ownership by Nicola Sturgeon in 2022 – initially defended the new announcements, saying that they \u2018give us flexibility\u2019 and that there were \u2018no plans to remove the voice\u2019.<\/p>\n

However, emails obtained between ministers and officials reveal that the state-owned operator U-turned after SNP ministers objected.<\/p>\n

\"ScotRail <\/p>\n

ScotRail was nationalised under Nicola Sturgeon in 2022 and has been beset by problems<\/p>\n

\"Scots <\/p>\n

Scots Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop was said to be \u2018very concerned’ about the AI voice<\/p>\n

\"ScotRail <\/p>\n

ScotRail is implementing a different \u2018voice\u2019 ‘as soon as practicable’, Transport Scotland says<\/p>\n

On 27 May 2025, when actor Ms Potter spoke out about the debacle, Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop was said to be \u2018very concerned about this\u2019, and \u2018asked if there are any options here\u2019.<\/p>\n

Business Minister Richard Lochhead then contacted Ms Hyslop, demanding to know \u2018why ScotRail has chosen to use an AI generated voice\u2019.<\/p>\n

The following week, Transport Scotland rail chief Bill Reeve wrote to Ms Hyslop, saying: \u2018Following discussions with the SRH Chief Executive, we have now received an updated recommendation from ScotRail Trains to change the current AI generated voice\u2019.<\/p>\n

When Ms Potter first spoke out, Readspeaker said she had been ‘informed of ReadSpeaker\u2019s intended use of the recordings for the purposes outlined in the contract, including commercial use of the synthetic voice’.<\/p>\n

It said it had acted ‘ethically and lawfully and that Ms Potter ‘was fairly paid for her voice talent services’. This week a spokeswoman declined to comment further.<\/p>\n

A Transport Scotland spokeswoman said: \u2018While subcontracts are a matter for ScotRail, this issue was raised directly with Ministers, both in correspondence and in Parliament, therefore it is entirely normal that information on the subject was provided to them.<\/p>\n

\u2018Our understanding is that ScotRail is working to make changes to the system, and this includes implementing an alternative \u2018voice\u2019 as soon as practicable.\u2019<\/p>\n

A ScotRail spokesman said: ‘ScotRail is continuing to work with ReadSpeaker on the matter, and while there is no update at present, we do expect to be able to provide a further update in the coming weeks.’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The SNP‘s nationalised rail service is scrapping the use of its AI station \u2018announcer\u2019 following a row with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":369099,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3163],"tags":[323,1942,92,12,45014,10004,53,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-369098","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-dailymail","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-scotland-news","13":"tag-snp","14":"tag-technology","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115082271703184272","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/369099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}