Renowned actor Neil Newbon, the voice behind iconic characters in Baldur’s Gate 3 and Resident Evil Village, has delivered a scathing critique of the industry’s push to replace human talent with generative AI.
To hell with AI in creative performance. Compared to the total cost of production, voice acting is a drop in the ocean. I don’t believe there is any justification for depriving people of their livelihood. If you have no intention of recording authentic lines and simply use AI to hijack someone’s vocal likeness to manipulate it however you please, that is a major problem.
He further elaborated:
I’ve found generative AI to be profoundly dull. I don’t buy into it; it completely shatters the immersion. People argue it’s beneficial because it’s ‘reactive,’ but I don’t hear a human being in peril, in combat, or in a state of agitation—any of the raw emotions a character is meant to convey. It doesn’t feel authentic. No matter how polished it sounds, there’s an underlying artificiality—the ‘uncanny valley’ effect. Frankly, I have no interest in generative AI because the output sounds hollow and unconvincing.
Despite significant pushback from the acting community, several studios continue to experiment with generative AI integration. It remains uncertain whether this technology will ever truly replace human voice talent in the gaming industry, but a full transition seems unlikely in the immediate future.
Source: iXBT.games