Persona 5 actress deletes Twitter account amid argument over AI voices, prompting other actors to weigh in
Erica Lindbeck, the voice actor behind Futaba Sakura in Persona 5, has deleted their Twitter account following a public argument over AI-generated voices.
Erica Linbeck’s voice work can be heard in dozens of anime series and video games, including Hi-Fi Rush, Tell Me Why, and more, but she’s most recognised for her role as Persona 5’s resident hacker Futaba, also known as Oracle. Things went south earlier this week when a video surfaced online which had the AI-generated voice of Futaba “singing” a Bo Burnham song called Welcome To The Internet. Of course, the video’s AI-generated Futaba likely used and manipulated dialogue that Lindbeck had recorded for the Persona games.
Lindbeck had publicly asked for the video to be removed, and the original post was deleted from YouTube. However, plenty of channels have since reposted the AI cover and many more Twitter users pushed back on Lindbeck’s original request with criticism, leading to her removing the account entirely.
AI-generated art isn’t a new controversy, but the recent argument reignited the debate as prominent voice actors and game developers weighed in with their own opinions, both in support of Lindbeck and against the use of AI-generated voices.
Writer and narrative designer Anna Webster said “Voice actors are additional collaborators on a project, not a weird sock puppet to say what you want!” She continued to say that “stealing someone’s voice” is both “unethical” and “just plain weird.” Webster also mentions the idea of character ownership: “The moment one of my characters gets recorded, I no longer see them as ‘mine’... voice actors bring their own expertise and creative vision to the character.”
Spectacular Spider-Man actor Josh Keaton also jumped on the
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