Short answers, pulled from the story.
Voice acting is the art of performing a character or providing information to an audience using one's voice. Voice actors work across films, television shows, video games, animated productions, commercials, audiobooks, radio dramas, documentaries, amusement rides, theater productions, and puppet shows. The role can also involve singing for a fictional character or performing motion-capture acting simultaneously.
Voice acting is recognized as a specialized dramatic profession in the United Kingdom, primarily because of the BBC's long history of producing radio dramas. This formal recognition distinguishes the UK from many other countries where the profession's status developed more informally.
The "mind the gap" announcement was introduced on the London Underground in 1969 and is one of the most widely heard pieces of voice acting in the world. It is currently voiced by Emma Clarke.
The 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike included negotiations with Hollywood studios over AI regulation and separate discussions with video game studios about terms to protect voice actors. SAG-AFTRA's deal with AI company Replica Studios was criticized by voice actors including Steve Blum, Joshua Seth, Veronica Taylor, and Shelby Young for its lack of genuine protections.
In October 2023, an audio deepfake falsely portrayed British Labour leader Keir Starmer abusing staff and criticizing Liverpool during the Labour Party conference. That same month, a deepfake of Slovak politician Michal Simecka falsely claimed to show him planning to rig an election. In January 2024, New Hampshire voters received calls featuring a fabricated AI voice of President Joe Biden discouraging them from voting.
Japan has approximately 130 voice acting schools and voice actors there frequently attract dedicated fans who watch shows specifically to hear their favorite performer. Many Japanese voice actors branch into music by singing opening or closing themes of shows they appear in, and some take part in audio drama side projects or record in-character image songs not included in the original anime.