NATIONWIDE — Tech giants like ElevenLabs and Meta are locked in a high-stakes race to integrate celebrity AI voices into everyday consumer tech. Yet, a new national study reveals a glaring irony: the celebrities Americans most want living inside their devices are the very ones leading the fight against unauthorized AI voice cloning.
A March 2026 survey of 1,523 Americans conducted by AI platform Machined.ai asked respondents to select their dream celebrity voice for their AI assistants. The landslide winner was Morgan Freeman, who captured 27.2% of the vote and carried 13 states.
However, Freeman has made his stance on the technology clear. “I got lawyers,” Freeman told CBS Mornings, noting his ongoing legal battles against unauthorized AI replicas of his iconic baritone.
The Stars Saying “No” to AI
Freeman is far from alone in his resistance. Three of America’s top five choices for AI integration have publicly opposed the unauthorized replication of their voices:
- Morgan Freeman (27.2%): The top overall national pick and winner of 13 states.
- Scarlett Johansson (14.4%): The second-place choice nationally, who famously accused OpenAI of replicating her voice for ChatGPT after she turned down the role.
- David Attenborough (8.2%): The fourth-place pick, who labeled AI voice cloning “profoundly disturbing” after discovering AI versions of himself narrating partisan political videos on YouTube.
Rounding out the top five was Tom Hanks (12.8%), who swept eight states across New England and the upper Midwest.
Hand-Picking Voices for Daily Routines
The study also asked participants to assign specific celebrity voices to specialized AI coaching roles, yielding highly practical—and highly entertaining—preferences:
The Daily AI Routine Podiums
| AI Scenario | Top Celebrity Choice | Percentage |
| Cooking Instructor | Gordon Ramsay | 34.7% |
| Workout Motivator | Samuel L. Jackson | 26.8% |
| GPS Navigator | David Attenborough | 28.4% |
| Voice of Comfort | Bob Ross | 25.7% |
| Crisis Coach | Liam Neeson | 25.3% |
| Morning Wake-Up | Dolly Parton | 24.1% |
| AI Therapist | Robin Williams | 23.8% |
Gordon Ramsay’s landslide victory in the kitchen marked the highest single-category percentage of any celebrity in the entire survey. Meanwhile, the late Bob Ross proved his enduring legacy by securing three separate podium finishes across the survey, including a second-place finish for AI therapy.
A Scramble for Legal & Corporate Guardrails
The public’s appetite for familiar voices comes at a turning point for the industry. While ElevenLabs launched a consent-based “Iconic Voice Marketplace” featuring actors like Michael Caine and Matthew McConaughey, other tech giants are pulling back. Amazon recently retired its celebrity Alexa add-ons—including Samuel L. Jackson—after deciding the complex rights management was no longer worth the corporate headache.
The legal landscape is shifting just as fast to protect talent. Following the adoption of the federal AI Transparency and Voice Rights Act, lawmakers are currently pushing for the passage of the NO FAKES Act, which would make it explicitly illegal to distribute or create an AI voice replica without explicit, prior consent.
While Americans clearly want their technology to sound more human, getting Hollywood’s elite to sign off on the transformation remains a formidable challenge. As the study proves, the most coveted voices in the country simply refuse to be institutionalized.
