THINK BEFORE YOU SEEK AI

As voice over talents, when we hear or think about Artificial Intelligence (AI), we are thinking about how to protect our voice from being misused or used without our permission. This has probably been the AI topic that I have seen the most from within the voiceover community since 2020. Rightfully so! These conversations have been critical in understanding what our options are and how we can protect our voices. That's why I created the voiceover templates with VO's most trusted lawyer, Robert Sciglimpaglia. The templates have Robert's seal of approval and more importantly the legal language needed for AI protection when starting a new voiceover project. You can learn more about these templates here. The tremendous efforts from NAVA have helped in this endeavor as well. 

Fast forward from 2020, we have unequivocally entered the AI Era where we are now seeing many businesses throughout all sectors starting to implement AI in one way or another into their business. AI has a lot of great advantages from an efficiency stand point. It also comes with a lot of unknowns. One thing I have discovered is that if you input less than quality data, your output leaves you with less than quality results. This is probably the number one reason people believe AI isn't that great yet. Who would have thought you would have to become a "prompt engineer" to get the most use out of something like ChatGPT?!

When I saw someone I know who is an artist start creating amazing artwork on MidJourney, I was like ooh let me try. Guess what happened? My art was NOTHING like her art. Why? She was an "artist - prompt engineer" that generated much better results than my novice art prompted images that I would definitely not call art. 

The people who are implementing AI into their businesses successfully are the ones who are already experts in the data they are inputting into AI to get the results that are making a huge difference. This process takes time to learn. The learning curve is lessening but with so many options and most having some sort of fees, what do you actually try to implement? The FREE versions. Makes sense. Everyone seems to love free stuff. Just like many other tech softwares that are free, they are free because we are giving them something in exchange. Yup, you guessed it. We are giving them the magic component: data.

AI Security Concerns

DeepSeek has come in like a wrecking ball in the last week. I am personally not surprised that China has been able to do it better and faster than ChaptGPT because everyone has given them so much data through TikTok and CapCut. China is notorious for causing security concerns with how they store their users data. Notwithstanding the fact that under Chinese law, there is no such thing as data privacy because companies MUST share their data to the government upon request. This also opens up users to Malware and privacy leaks. Which is the reason I have never used any of China's apps.

Hence the recent U.S. TikTok ban. It was a panic, "oh no TikTok disappeared". Although it was for a brief moment but seemingly to its many users, felt like an eternity of not being able to access the app and thereby content creators losing their business and income just like that. Italy has already banned DeepSeek until DeepSeek answers their questions about their security measures. 

Cybersecurity, in my opinion, is something everyone should really be thinking about when determining which AI app they will be using and for what purposes. I would heed the warning that MalwareBytes has given AI users:

"the need for fast developments in this [AI] field is creating privacy risks that we have never seen before, simply because security is an afterthought for the developers. So, no matter which AI chatbot you prefer, always be mindful of the information you feed it: It may find its way to unexpected and undesirable places."

Implementing AI Consciously

With approximately 500 productivity AI tools on the market today with that number increasing daily, the process of choosing the best apps for your business can feel daunting. That's why I added this as a bonus in my Three-Month Mentorship for those who are seeking to truly INNOVATE this year before AI changes the landscape of the voiceover industry.

Since announcing my Innovator Mentorship, I've had several people wanting to just get the AI information. So I decided to do an AI Mentorship as well. In the AI mentorship, I will introduce you to the latest AI productivity tools available to help you be more efficient in your business. From creating a website, logo, marketing and repetitive tasks, AI is helping businesses accomplish a lot more in less time. People might wonder why would I choose to do a three-month AI Mentorship over a one-time webinar with all the information. The answer is simple, if you are going to implement AI from my experience in the past year, it's not an overnight AI success. Everything I teach is to help you get real results. Real results rarely ever come from a one-time webinar. Hands on implementation support is key to using AI effectively and consciously.

I have been learning about AI developments since 2020. I never thought I would be helping businesses implement AI but as it happens I was surprised last year with an opportunity to do just that. Because I am an expert not only in business & marketing but in media & voiceover, I discovered my expertise is vital in helping businesses implement AI well and consciously. I'm expanding my AI Implementation offerings this year to voice actors but there will probably only be one iteration of the AI mentorship as my other business is expanding quickly!

I have spent the past year learning from the best business innovators utilizing AI productivity tools and mastering them. I have a curated list of the most important tools for business owners and of course voice actors. You can easily spend the next six months just learning about what works and what doesn't while spending more money than you need. This mentorship is designed to help you think and implement AI consciously into your business effectively. 

I will be sharing the latest news on AI this year to my mailing list. If you want to join the mailing list you can do so by entering your information below. I'm sending out the latest news on copywriting protection with AI this week. Wherever you are in the process of implementing AI into your voiceover business, I hope this blog has given you some food for thought. 

This blog was written 100% by me so you could find errors. I feel strongly that my voice whether in print or in audio format should not be altered by AI. Not only do I feel that it diminishes my authentic voice, it puts my voice into the pile of all AI generated content out there that is already starting to sound the same. That's not my brand or my vibe!

To human mistakes but with heart and soul :). 

~Ailana