Sir David Attenborough, 97, at the premiere of his BBC documentary, “Planet Earth III,” in October.
Dave Benett/Getty Images
A video of an AI version of David Attenborough narrating a programmer’s life went viral on X.Attenborough told Business Insider he found the video “personally distressing.”The filmmaker said he’s concerned an AI version of him could be used to deceive others.
On Wednesday, a programmer named Charlie Holtz shared a video on X that showcased an AI-generated version of David Attenborough narrating Holtz’s life. The narration appeared to be done autonomously and in real-time, in the filmmaker’s distinctive voice and style.
And though Holtz’s video has been met with awe and amazement by some people, the AI-Attenborough has at least one major critic: Attenborough himself.
David Attenborough is now narrating my life
Here’s a GPT-4-vision + @elevenlabsio python script so you can star in your own Planet Earth: pic.twitter.com/desTwTM7RS
— Charlie Holtz (@charliebholtz) November 15, 2023
On Saturday, Sir David Attenborough — the real one — told Business Insider in an email exchange that he is deeply concerned about the use of AI.
“The fact that I find this personally distressing may count for nothing in the minds of people who freely share the ability to create false versions of me regardless of my feelings,” wrote the 97-year-old filmmaker, who is known for his educational TV programs “Life on Earth” and “The Blue Planet.”
“But it is of the greatest concern to me that one day, and that day may now be very close, someone is going to use AI to deceive others into believing that I am saying things contrary to my beliefs or that misrepresent the wider concerns I have spent a lifetime trying to explain and promote,” he wrote.
In addition to sharing the video online, Holtz also shared the code he used to create his AI-Attenborough.
Holtz ‘s video has been watched more than 3 million times, and it has already sparked interest in AI clones. One X user wrote that they wanted to link the AI-Attenborough to a pair of Meta Ray Bans and hear him “narrate life in real time” while walking around New York City.
Another programmer, Pietro Schirano, shared a video on Thursday of an AI-generated Steve Jobs critiquing his designs, adding that he was inspired by Holtz.
Holtz did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.