The VoiceMaster Meets AI: Pocholo Gonzales and the Future of Voice

 

When artificial intelligence began reshaping creative industries, Pocholo De Leon Gonzales was among the first to see its promise. For him, adaptation was not optional—it was survival.

Known as “The Man Behind a Thousand Voices,” Gonzales earned the title not overnight but through decades of discipline, experimentation, and teaching. His foresight led him to embrace AI not as a threat but as a tool to expand the boundaries of voice acting.

“Your growth,” he said, “will always be your greatest protection.”

A graduate of BA in Speech Communication and took up his Master's Degree in Broadcast Communications at UP Diliman, Gonzales built a career at the intersection of artistry and advocacy. He founded the Voice of the Youth Network in 1996 and CreatiVoices Productions in 2005, both designed to amplify voices, literally and figuratively, that might otherwise go unheard.

AI gave him the means to pursue an idea that had lingered for more than two decades: bringing José Rizal into the digital age. In 2024, he launched Conversations with Rizal, an AI-driven project that draws from the national hero’s diaries, novels, and historical documents. The goal was not simply to preserve Rizal’s words but to make them speak to contemporary challenges.

“What sets it apart,” Gonzales explained, “is its ability to connect Rizal’s wisdom to today while maintaining historical authenticity.”

The following year, he introduced an animated AI series featuring Rizal as narrator of his own life. Designed for children and adults alike, the series reframes history in a medium familiar to a generation raised on screens and social media.

“I want every Filipino youth to have a Rizal in their heart,” he said.

Gonzales’s embrace of AI has not been without controversy. Some creatives accuse him of surrendering to technology. He disagrees. “If you’re waiting for the system to protect you, you’re already obsolete,” he argued.

At his Certified Voice Artist Program (CVAP), he teaches students not only to refine their craft but to license their voices, own their intellectual property, and evolve into voice entrepreneurs. For him, legislation may shift, but ownership endures.

He has even cloned his own voice through ElevenLabs, deploying it to teach, host, and inspire on demand. “Imagine—Pocholo, on repeat, and on purpose,” he said. “This isn’t ego. It’s my legacy powered by AI.”

Critics see AI as competition. Gonzales sees scale. “Voice isn’t just for entertainment,” he insisted. “It’s for education. It’s for transformation. And now, it’s for immortality.”

That conviction birthed The AI Talks with The VoiceMaster, the first Filipino radio and podcast program to blend human voice, AI education, and Filipino storytelling. Broadcast on Radyo Pilipinas and streamed globally on Spotify, the show simplifies complex AI concepts for ordinary listeners, making technology relatable and usable.

“AI should not replace the Filipino voice,” Gonzales said. “It should amplify it.”

In November 2025, the program was recognized at Asia’s Pinnacle Awards as Asia’s Most Innovative AI Program on Radio and Spotify.

The cost of AI remains a hurdle—most of Gonzales’s projects are self-financed, with little institutional support. Yet he presses on, declaring himself a “present-day Rizal,” committed to sharing what he learns with students and the public.

His message to aspiring voice artists is simple: authenticity is the key to longevity. “Voice acting is not real acting,” he said. “It’s the art of becoming. Don’t work for AI. Work with AI.”

(This story was first published by PhilStar.com)