Veteran actor Sir Michael Caine has partnered with an artificial intelligence company licensing the voices of public figures.

The star, who is known for his distinctive Cockney accent, will join ElevenLabs’ Iconic Voice Marketplace, where companies and creatives can request to use the actor’s voice for projects and content.

“For years, I’ve lent my voice to stories that moved people – tales of courage, of wit, of the human spirit. Now, I’m helping others find theirs,” the 92-year-old said.

“With ElevenLabs, we can preserve and share voices – not just mine, but anyone’s.

“ElevenLabs is at the very forefront of technology, using innovation not to replace humanity, but to celebrate it.

“ElevenLabs gives everyone the tools to be heard.

“It’s not about replacing voices, it’s about amplifying them, opening doors for new storytellers everywhere.”

Sir Michael, whose voice will be used on the ElevenReader app to narrate books, articles and PDFs, joins more than 25 other well-known voices available on the Marketplace, including that of actress and singer Liza Minnelli.

Also included are figures who died decades before the turn of the 21st century, including mathematician Alan Turing, “father of the atomic bomb” J Robert Oppenheimer and aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, who disappeared over the Pacific Ocean and was presumed dead in 1937.

The company said its Iconic Voice Marketplace was “a curated, two-sided platform” that “solves a key ethical challenge in AI-driven media creation by enabling the ethical sourcing and licensing of some of the world’s most recognisable voices”.

Generative AI has been a controversial topic of discussion in recent years. Many celebrities have fallen victim to deep fake imagery, which is when AI is used to replicate the likeness of an individual.

-AAP