Digital Doppelgängers: Navigating Identity, Ethics, and Voice in the Age of AI Personas

Resumen

In an era increasingly shaped by algorithmic agency and synthetic expression, the emergence of AI-generatedpersonas presents a significant challenge to established understandings of authorship, identity, and pedagogicalethics. This paper explores the implications of artificial voice simulation within English Language Teaching(ELT)and English Language Learning (ELL) contexts. where questions of voice, agency, and authenticity are central toboth instruction and learner development. Grounded in interdisciplinary perspectives fromcritical pedagogy, digital ethics, and posthumanist thought, the study interrogates how AI personas complicate traditionalrelationships between learners, teachers, and text, particularly, learner agency, authenticity, andvoiceconstruction. By situating these concerns within contemporary classroom practices, ranging fromcommunicativelanguage classrooms to digitally mediated and safe learning environments, the paper argues that educationaltechnologies cannot be regarded as neutral or merely supportive tools. Instead, they function as active agentsthatshape how knowledge is produced, how identity is negotiated, and how authorship is constructed anddistributedamong human and non-human participants. Therefore, the analysis highlights emerging tensions surroundinglearner autonomy, the authenticity of linguistic expression, and the ethical boundaries of using simulatedvoicesininstructional settings. Ultimately, the study advocates for a pedagogical paradigm that is both critically responsiveand active to these technological shifts and ethically attuned to their broader cultural implications. It calls foranapproach that goes hand in hand with ELT and ELL which recognises AI’s transformative potential whileforegrounding the protection of learning agency, the integrity of human voice, and the need for transparent, reflective engagement with rapidly evolving digital realities.