A committee convened at the Ministry of Justice in Japan this week to examine legal liability surrounding unauthorized voice usage via generative artificial intelligence.

The session featured testimony from popular voice actors who emphasized a joint statement: “We are united in our opposition to unauthorized generation.”

The committee was established following growing concerns that the proliferation of generative AI had exacerbated issues regarding unauthorized use of likenesses and voices. Its primary objective is to systematically organize cases where legal liability for rights infringement may be applicable.

Earlier this month, popular voice actor Kenjiro Tsuda sued Tiktok over the same issue when a user allegedly used a generated AI voice based on Tsuda’s likeness.

During the afternoon session this week, a series of hearings were conducted with prominent voice actors. Among them were Megumi Ogata, (Neon Genesis Evangelion), Yuki Kaji (Attack on Titan), and Jun Fukuyama (Code Geass).

On X, Yuki Kaji said: “There is no future in AI use without regulation. Let’s aim for the day when we can truly coexist with AI.”

The voice actors pointed to emerging problems where AI-generated audio resembling their own voices had been released on social media platforms and monetized accordingly. They asserted that, “their collective sentiment toward opposing unauthorized generation remains unified.”

They also highlighted the difficulty of addressing these issues individually and called for establishing guidelines such as, criteria for determining when their voices are being used, as well as measures to allow affiliated management agencies to exercise rights on their behalf.

The deliberation committee is scheduled to reconvene next month, with further discussions planned among distinguished experts and industry representatives.