Actor Neil Newbon, who voiced Astarion in Baldur's Gate 3, has shared his thoughts on artificial intelligence in gaming, and he didn't mince words.
"Fuck AI in performance," Newbon told PCGamesN.
He's talking about using artificial voice lines for games, like how Embark's The Finals and Arc Raiders do. For Arc Raiders, the studio hired human actors to record voice lines and then used AI systems to have their voices say lots of other things. Newbon pointed out that Arc Raiders has been a major commercial success, and he suggested that Embark bring back the actors to "redo the lines."
"Maybe go back to those actors you paid however much money to clone their voices; maybe get them in the booth and re-record that stuff. Just saying. You've got the money now, spread the wealth," he said.
"I don't think there's a justification for taking people's jobs away," he added. "I don't really think it's legitimate. If you're going to not record the lines in the first place and just use AI to take somebody's voice and manipulate it however the hell you want, that's a problem."
"Most actors, notoriously, are not rich. Most of us struggle [for] our entire career," he said.
Embark has not disclosed the names of the voice performers in Arc Raiders, nor do we know their level of compensation. But Newbon said most actors are "not rich" and "struggle for our entire career."
Beyond all of this, Newbon said AI-created voice lines, as they exist today, simply sound "boring."
"It's dull as hell. I don't believe it; it takes me out of the immersion. People are saying it helps the immersion because it's reactive. It takes me out of the experience because I just hear something that doesn't sound like a human being in jeopardy, or in combat, or excitement, or whatever emotion you're supposed to be aiming for," he said.
Next up for Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian is a new Divinity game. The company's CEO, Swen Vincke, recently discussed how the studio uses AI technologies in early-stage development efforts, but promised that nothing AI-created will appear in the final product. His comments caused a stir, prompting Vincke to respond, saying Larian is hiring more people, not fewer, and that AI is used to explore possibilities and not for actual production.
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"Fuck AI in performance," Newbon told PCGamesN.
He's talking about using artificial voice lines for games, like how Embark's The Finals and Arc Raiders do. For Arc Raiders, the studio hired human actors to record voice lines and then used AI systems to have their voices say lots of other things. Newbon pointed out that Arc Raiders has been a major commercial success, and he suggested that Embark bring back the actors to "redo the lines."
"Maybe go back to those actors you paid however much money to clone their voices; maybe get them in the booth and re-record that stuff. Just saying. You've got the money now, spread the wealth," he said.
"I don't think there's a justification for taking people's jobs away," he added. "I don't really think it's legitimate. If you're going to not record the lines in the first place and just use AI to take somebody's voice and manipulate it however the hell you want, that's a problem."
"Most actors, notoriously, are not rich. Most of us struggle [for] our entire career," he said.
Embark has not disclosed the names of the voice performers in Arc Raiders, nor do we know their level of compensation. But Newbon said most actors are "not rich" and "struggle for our entire career."
Beyond all of this, Newbon said AI-created voice lines, as they exist today, simply sound "boring."
"It's dull as hell. I don't believe it; it takes me out of the immersion. People are saying it helps the immersion because it's reactive. It takes me out of the experience because I just hear something that doesn't sound like a human being in jeopardy, or in combat, or excitement, or whatever emotion you're supposed to be aiming for," he said.
Next up for Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian is a new Divinity game. The company's CEO, Swen Vincke, recently discussed how the studio uses AI technologies in early-stage development efforts, but promised that nothing AI-created will appear in the final product. His comments caused a stir, prompting Vincke to respond, saying Larian is hiring more people, not fewer, and that AI is used to explore possibilities and not for actual production.
Source