The recent controversy over the creator of ChatGPT's use of a voice resembling Hollywood actor Scarlett Johansson is another example of the complexity of generative artificial intelligence and the ethical debate surrounding its technology.
OpenAI said Skye's voice, one of several available for its popular chatbot, is not an imitation of the actor but rather comes from a different expert using her natural speaking voice.
Nonetheless, the similarities to Johansson are striking, with the Marvel star raising questions about how the voice sounded “eerily similar” to hers after turning down an offer to lend her voice to The System.
The company suspended Sky earlier this week.
This high-profile incident has brought the issue of AI voice into the spotlight, with multiple video game voice actors saying they are particularly vulnerable to unauthorized AI.
One case involved a user-made mod for the video game Cyberpunk 2077 that transformed the main character into Adam Jensen, complete with a voice actor.
Problem: Adam Jensen is the main character in another video game series, but the voice actor has neither lent his talents to the fan project nor consented to its production.
“This is a performance using only my voice,” says Elias Toufekis, who grew up in Montreal and now lives in Los Angeles. “I thought no one could do something like this.”
The creator of the mod has agreed to remove it.
Toufexis — also known for his voice work in video games like Starfield, Assassin's Creed and the Splinter Cell series, as well as roles in live-action shows like The Expanse and Star Trek: Discovery — says artificial intelligence is cool and has a lot of potential.
However, while AI can be used to support art, it shouldn't be used to create art, Toufexis says.
Ubisoft, the publisher of the Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell games, seems to agree.
Yves Jacquier is executive director of Ubisoft's La Forge division. The Montreal-based company aims to prototype innovations born from cutting-edge academic research to improve the game-making process, according to its website. Artificial intelligence is among its missions.
“It's there to help creators,” Jacquier said. “They have to have an edge, they have to have a vision, and AI is one of the tools that can help them realize that vision.”
Jaquier said he hasn't heard of Ubisoft's AI applications taking over jobs that should be done by humans.
“We develop these solutions together with the end user,” he said, citing an in-house tool called GhostWriter as an example.
According to a 2023 announcement, ghostwriters won't replace video game writers, but will help them with one of their most arduous jobs: writing dialogue, known as “bark.” This tool generates samples that humans can select and polish.
These are essentially filler lines spoken by non-player characters and can be something simple like “Down!” or “Grenade!”
Toufexis said voicing video game voices is a job that's disappearing due to AI, meaning it could become even harder for aspiring voice actors to land the job.
Another big concern is fair treatment.
For voice actor Jennifer Hale, it comes down to three things: “Control over what happens with our voice; consenting to the use of our voice in the first place; and compensation for the use of our voice,” says Hale, who was born in Happy, Valley-Goose Bay, N.B., and now lives on Vancouver Island.
“This is my voice,” says Hale, best known for his role as Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect series.
“This is an expression of my soul. This is an expression of my decades of life experience. No one is allowed to use this without my permission.”
Hale acknowledges that AI is a tool that is not inherently harmful. She's not against AI, she says, but against its misuse.
But incidents like ChatGPT's Johansson-voice lookalike highlight the need for protections for actors, and perhaps especially voice actors.
An actor's contract is their main protection, said Lindsay Rousseau, a Los Angeles-based actor with a long career that includes video games, movies and performance capture.
She pointed to work done by the US-based National Voice Actors Association to make available AI-related riders and contract addenda that professionals can use when negotiating jobs.
Rousseau said the use of AI voice could become more common in smaller video game studios that may not necessarily know how to work with or pay actors.
But for big-budget projects, companies still want big names, she says.
“They still want a Jen Hales,” she says.
There's a reason people love movie stars, Toufekis says, and it's because they want to connect with the characters through the actors.
“There will be no AI version of Meryl Streep. It will never happen.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 23, 2024.
Curtis Ng, The Canadian Press
