‘I’m the famous voice of the Tube – it’s sad they’ve replaced me with AI’

The iconic voice of the London Underground has expressed her sadness at the replacement of her voice with an AI bot.

Elinor Hamilton’s announcements have been substituted by a ‘text-to-speech’ tool at Colindale Station, a Freedom of Information request to Transport for London has revealed.

The 46-year-old fears for the future of her late husband Phil Sayer’s voice, who is behind the famous ‘Mind the Gap’ message.

TfL confirmed last week that Colindale Station, on the Northern Line, has switched to a ‘text-to-speech voice provided by Zentiel’ for tannoy announcements.

The AI speech tool is in place while the station undergoes development works, scheduled for completion later in the year.

Elinor, who recorded the original station scripts 20 years ago, told Metro: ‘It makes me quite sad they are using an AI voice.

‘To use computer voices almost takes away the job of travelling in London.

‘It brings me joy to think these are people.

‘It is the difference between going down a nice cobbled high street and going to a retail park outside a city.

‘We will only start to notice when it is too late. When the fabric of London is chipped away by the computers.’

Elinor’s was first recorded for the Northern, Jubilee and Piccadilly lines in 2005 and has now been used across Tube stations in London.

She has also done voice overs for stations and trains for South West rail and across other areas in the UK transport.

Elinor was married to Phil Sayer, a BBC radio presenter who became the voice for ‘Mind the Gap’ across the capital.

At the same time he got that job, he recommended Elinor for the station announcement gig. Phil’s announcements were also used on tannoys across the rail network.

His voice remained on the Tube despite his death in 2016, but now she fears AI could replace that too.

She said: ‘The fact that Phil is still there is part of our history. He is a beloved voice.

‘Whenever I hear his voice, I always do a video to send to my boys to show them he is still around.

‘I will kick off if they say they want to take Phil off. I would be really sad.’

Elinor’s messages are due to return to Colindale station once it reopens fully later this year, TfL stressed.

They also said in their FOI response they have made decision as to who or what would be the female voice for their refurbished Bakerloo and Central line trains will be.

Case Officer David Wells added: ‘Once the station re-opens fully in late 2025, the regular station management system and London Underground station voice announcements will be used.

‘No decision has been taken yet on the permanent female voice we intend to use on the refurbished Bakerloo and Central line trains.’

The voice artist from Bolton is also speaking out about the dangers AI poses to her industry.

Many of her colleagues have been particularly affected by voice cloning, which when the technology creates a digital replica of someone’s sound.

Elinor added: ‘We all know people who have had their voices cloned.

‘I know loads of people who are moving to different jobs because they cannot get an income from speaking out loud anymore.

‘I have played around with AI, it is a pain in the arse.

‘If you have a professional they will read a script in 20 minutes. Get a computer to do it, it is an absolute waste of time.

‘I do not think it has any financial benefit whatsoever.’

Elinor plans to clone her own voice so it can continue be used by TfL and other rail networks after her death.

Voice artists have joined the ‘Make it Fair’ campaign being run by members of the creative industry.

The campaign is raising awareness among the British public about the existential threat posed from AI models to their work.

Metro has approached Transport for London for comment.

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