The mother of Gabby Petito, the aspiring YouTuber who was cruelly murdered by her boyfriend Brian Laundrie on what should have been the trip of a lifetime, has shared that hearing her daughter's voice via deepfake technology (in the recently released Netflix series, American Murder: Gabby Petito) was 'weird'.
Although the series explains that Gabby's parents (Nichole Schmidt and Joe Petito) gave explicit permission for AI to recreate their daughter's voice, Schmidt has now detailed how the reality of the experience was for her.
Speaking with The Independent, she said: "I think it's weird and because we know her actual voice, [it] is a little off. It's just hard to hear."
At the beginning of the first episode, a message appears on-screen reading 'Gabby Petito's journal entries and text messages are brought to life in this series in her own voice, using voice recreation technology'.
Speaking about the decision to go this route, filmmaker Michael Gasparro told Us Weekly, "We had so much material from her parents that we were able to get. All of her journals since she was young and there was so much of her writing. She documented her trips and most of her life from a young age. We thought it was really important to bring that to life."
He added, "At the end of the day, we wanted to tell the story as much through Gabby as possible. It's her story."
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This audio recreation, which could be classed as deepfake, had a mixed response from viewers but is likely something that will continue to feature in programmes moving forward as the technology advances and becomes more easily accessible.
Back in 2021, a documentary, Roadrunner, deepfaked chef and presenter Anthony Bourdain's voice for the voiceover elements when he died before recording them himself – something that the production team didn't initially disclose to viewers and that went on to spark a debate surrounding the use of AI voice cloning technology.
Jennifer Savin is Cosmopolitan UK's multiple award-winning Features Editor, who was crowned Digital Journalist of the Year for her work tackling the issues most important to young women. She regularly covers breaking news, cultural trends, health, the royals and more, using her esteemed connections to access the best experts along the way. She's grilled everyone from high-profile politicians to A-list celebrities, and has sensitively interviewed hundreds of people about their real life stories. In addition to this, Jennifer is widely known for her own undercover investigations and campaign work, which includes successfully petitioning the government for change around topics like abortion rights and image-based sexual abuse. Jennifer is also a published author, documentary consultant (helping to create BBC’s Deepfake Porn: Could You Be Next?) and a patron for Y.E.S. (a youth services charity). Alongside Cosmopolitan, Jennifer has written for The Times, Women’s Health, ELLE and numerous other publications, appeared on podcasts, and spoken on (and hosted) panels for the Women of the World Festival, the University of Manchester and more. In her spare time, Jennifer is a big fan of lipstick, leopard print and over-ordering at dinner. Follow Jennifer on Instagram, X or LinkedIn.
