Netflix doc on Gabby Petito features AI voice, prompting ethical concerns
The new Netflix documentary series American Murder: Gabby Petito has drawn criticism for using artificial intelligence to recreate the late travel vlogger’s voice, a move some viewers have called unsettling and disrespectful. The three-part docuseries, which examines the widely followed case of Petito’s 2021 disappearance and murder, features a message approximately 21 minutes into the first episode stating that her “journal entries and text messages are brought to life in this series in her own voice, using voice recreation technology.” The AI-generated narration has sparked debate online, with some questioning the ethics of digitally recreating the voice of a deceased individual. However, directors and executive producers Julia Willoughby Nason and Michael Gasparro have defended the decision, stating that they obtained permission from Petito’s family before moving forward. “We reached out to the family to get their blessing, and then we worked diligently to represent it exactly how it was written,” Gasparro told Us Weekly. “That allowed you to hear it through her own words.” The series incorporates interviews with Petito’s loved ones alongside videos, artwork, and writings from her personal journals. According to Gasparro, Petito’s parents provided extensive materials, including journals she kept since childhood that documented her travels and life experiences. “We thought it was really important to bring that to life,” he said. “At the end of the day, we wanted to tell the story as much through Gabby as possible. It’s her story.” Nason emphasized that the documentary sought to highlight aspects of Petito’s life beyond her relationship with Brian Laundrie, who admitted to killing her before taking his own life. “We really didn’t want to oversaturate the viewer, and we wanted to balance it out with the actual scope of the crime, the ins and outs of the investigation, and how national this case was,” Nason said. “We wanted to balance it out, but if we could do a whole doc that was just Gabby’s journals, we would.” The case of Gabby Petito, 22, gained global attention in 2021 after she went missing during a road trip with Laundrie. Her remains were later discovered in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park, and an autopsy confirmed she had been strangled. Laundrie, who returned to Florida alone before disappearing himself, was later found dead in a nature reserve. A notebook recovered near his body contained his confession to the crime. While American Murder: Gabby Petito aims to give voice to Petito’s perspective, the use of AI-generated narration continues to raise ethical concerns in documentary filmmaking, particularly regarding consent and representation of the deceased.
The new Netflix documentary series American Murder: Gabby Petito has drawn criticism for using artificial intelligence to recreate the late travel vlogger’s voice, a move some viewers have called unsettling and disrespectful. The three-part docuseries, which examines the widely followed case of Petito’s 2021 disappearance and murder, features a message approximately 21 minutes into the first episode stating that her “journal entries and text messages are brought to life in this series in her own voice, using voice recreation technology.” The AI-generated narration has sparked debate online, with some questioning the ethics of digitally recreating the voice of a deceased individual. However, directors and executive producers Julia Willoughby Nason and Michael Gasparro have defended the decision, stating that they obtained permission from Petito’s family before moving forward. “We reached out to the family to get their blessing, and then we worked diligently to represent it exactly how it was written,” Gasparro told Us Weekly. “That allowed you to hear it through her own words.” The series incorporates interviews with Petito’s loved ones alongside videos, artwork, and writings from her personal journals. According to Gasparro, Petito’s parents provided extensive materials, including journals she kept since childhood that documented her travels and life experiences. “We thought it was really important to bring that to life,” he said. “At the end of the day, we wanted to tell the story as much through Gabby as possible. It’s her story.” Nason emphasized that the documentary sought to highlight aspects of Petito’s life beyond her relationship with Brian Laundrie, who admitted to killing her before taking his own life. “We really didn’t want to oversaturate the viewer, and we wanted to balance it out with the actual scope of the crime, the ins and outs of the investigation, and how national this case was,” Nason said. “We wanted to balance it out, but if we could do a whole doc that was just Gabby’s journals, we would.” The case of Gabby Petito, 22, gained global attention in 2021 after she went missing during a road trip with Laundrie. Her remains were later discovered in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park, and an autopsy confirmed she had been strangled. Laundrie, who returned to Florida alone before disappearing himself, was later found dead in a nature reserve. A notebook recovered near his body contained his confession to the crime. While American Murder: Gabby Petito aims to give voice to Petito’s perspective, the use of AI-generated narration continues to raise ethical concerns in documentary filmmaking, particularly regarding consent and representation of the deceased.