ScotRail is set to replace a controversial AI voice on trains, after criticism from a professional voiceover artist. Gayanne Potter's Scottish accent was used to teach station announcer "Iona", but she said it was a surprise to hear a "dreadful" robotic version of herself. ScotRail introduced the voice in May, provide by Swedish tech firm ReadSpeaker, to replace pre-recorded human announcements on some services. Transport Scotland said the rail operator now intended to introduce an alternative voice "as soon as practicable". ScotRail has not confirmed if this will be a human recording or another AI-trained voice.

ReadSpeaker markets its products, including Iona, as an "AI voice generator," but it said all of its programmes are based on "human voice talent". The firm uses a text-to-speech model, that means a user can type anything and Iona will read it out loud. The technology uses artificial intelligence learning but AI needs something to learn from. In this instance, it is voice recordings of an accent or language it is trying to emulate. In response to the complaints, the tech firm said: "ReadSpeaker is aware of Ms Potter's concerns, and has comprehensively addressed these with Ms Potter's legal representative several times in the past."