Exploring perceptual boundaries: Assessing human ability to differentiate AI-cloned from real voices

This study investigates human ability to distinguish between real and AI-generated (cloned) voices. As voice cloning technologies advance, concerns about authenticity, trust, and perceptual accuracy have become increasingly relevant in communication and media contexts. The research adopted a quantitative experimental design involving 35 participants who were asked to identify whether 40 recorded voice samples were real or AI-generated. The data were analyzed using sensitivity index (A′) values, confidence intervals, and t-tests to assess recognition accuracy across variables such as gender and age. Results indicated that participants recognized real voices with an average accuracy rate of 70%, while cloned voices were correctly identified at 60%. Female voices were slightly better recognized than male voices, but age did not significantly affect recognition performance. Although participants often described cloned voices as “human-like,” their actual discrimination accuracy remained relatively low, suggesting that auditory cues alone may not be sufficient to distinguish AI-generated speech from authentic human speech. The findings highlight perceptual challenges and ethical concerns associated with rapidly developing speech synthesis technologies. Further research integrating emotional tone analysis, multimodal perception, and user familiarity with AI systems is recommended to deepen understanding of human–AI auditory interaction.