Artificial intelligence-generated speech is rapidly entering the fields of advertising, games, audio books, albums, and movies. As a result, the work of more than 2 million professional voice actors around the world is facing increasing pressure. Now the question is no longer “will AI take jobs in the future?”, but that some voice actors have personally felt that job opportunities are decreasing.
It was 14% a year ago and now it has risen directly to 21%
According to research released by the National Voice Actors Association (NAVA) in 2026, 21% of voice actors have stated that they have lost their jobs due to AI, a significant increase from 14% a year ago. What’s even more embarrassing is that some actors are even worried that their voices have been used to train AI, but will eventually become a tool to replace themselves. Brazilian voice actor Fabio Azevedo said that his voice may be used as AI training material, and now he may face unemployment.
The biggest worry is not that AI looks like humans, but that humans begin to become “unnecessary”!
Industry insiders believe that once synthetic speech becomes popular on a large scale, producers will be able to produce a large number of dubbings without hiring real actors. This will also bring about issues such as voice authorization, consent and remuneration. In addition to the reduction in job opportunities, professionals are also worried that the originally unique dubbing culture of each country will gradually be replaced by a unified AI voice. In other words, AI is now not just a tool to help. For some voice actors, it has already sat directly at the next desk without receiving a salary.