Artificial intelligence has become more and more widespread and raises concerns about the jobs it can fill. Now it is the case of video game dubbing actors, who could be replaced by this technology, something that generates ethical debates due to the scope of this.
Task automation is something that is already happening and the video game market is not exempt. Technological advances make it possible today to recreate human voices very easily, and with unlimited options to adapt them to different contexts.
However, this also raises a dilemma, about how ethical it is to replace people’s voices with artificial intelligence technology.
What is the use of artificial intelligence in video games?
There is no doubt that the use of artificial intelligence completely transforms the way we work in different areas. Video games are no exception, although this also causes ethical dilemmas.
The company Altered AI offers a technology based on artificial intelligence that makes it possible to create voices for use in video games. Previously, all these voices were recorded individually by voice actors. The possibility of using artificial intelligence allows not only cost savings but also time savings. To get an idea of the processes involved in using voice actors, for Playstation 2’s Red Dead Redemption 2, 2200 days were used. During these days, 700 actors recorded the 1200 voices of the game in 500 thousand lines of dialogue.
This example clearly shows how artificial intelligence could revolutionize the video game industry. Altered AI technology has already been used in games such as The Ascent and Hellblade 2: Senua’s Saga, so it is expected that more creators will use this option, thus replacing actors. The advantage of Altered AI is that it allows you to play with tones and accents, while maintaining the style of the original actor.
What is the claim of voice actors for the use of artificial intelligence?
The possibility of replacing actors with artificial intelligence in video games is generating concern among industry workers. This is in addition to ethical questions about the use of real voices to imitate them later through artificial intelligence, sometimes without the express authorization of the actors.
Roger Clark, an actor involved in Red Dead Redemption 2 stated that there are concerns about how the use of artificial intelligence may affect actors and their ability to work. He added that he is interested in what AI can offer, but the ability to mimic real people is alarming. Troy Baker of The Last of Us, on the other hand, stated that this is an inevitability, as it is an easier and more efficient way of doing things. Finally, Melissanthi Mahut of Assasin’s Creed Odyssey highlighted the concern about how organic or natural the result of voices created by artificial intelligence is.
In response to this debate, Altered AI clarified that its service is only being used to show how the dialogues would look like and as a reference for the actors to do the final work.
Although this is a technology that is not yet being used on a massive scale, it seems that it will be a trend that will revolutionize the creation of video games. We will have to wait and see how artificial intelligence will affect voice actors and their work.
