Hellblade studio is replacing actors with AI and it’s not the only one

metro.co.uk:

The likes of Ninja Theory are already experimenting with AI generated voice acting and professional actors are naturally worried about it.

Being a voice actor, not just for video games but in general, is nowhere near as glamorous as you may think. Unlike big name Hollywood actors, voice actors tend to be seen as more easily replaceable.

We’ve already seen it dozens of times in the past. The titular character of Bayonetta 3 seems to have been recast despite her original actress still being available to reprise the role, and John DiMaggio was nearly replaced as the voice of Bender in the Futurama revival because he asked for more money.

Now, actors need to worry about being replaced not by another actor but by AI. Not only does the technology to create or replicate human voices exist, but some game studios have apparently already begun using it.

A recent report has highlighted a company called Altered AI, which provides companies the tools needed to create artificial voice performances without the need to pay or work with an actual human being.

Ninja Theory, the studio behind Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice and its upcoming sequel, is apparently one of Altered AI’s partners, but nothing else about their involvement is known.

Speaking with GLHF, Altered AI CEO and founder Ioannis Agiomyrgiannakis obviously presented the technology as a positive and suggested that it’s not meant to act as a replacement for actual actors.

‘I never believed in human replacement,’ he said. ‘What we are making are tools that allow people to do performance by themselves. People in the gaming industry use us for prototyping. When you have a dialogue, you have a level of imagination.

‘But when you take the dialogue to the voice actors, it comes back and