Video Game Cyberpunk 2077 Uses AI To Replace Deceased Voice Actor 20
Polish video game developer CD Projekt used AI technology in its latest release to recreate the voice of an actor who passed away, the company said. From a report: The voice of the late Milogost Reczek, a popular Polish voice actor who died in 2021, was reproduced by an AI algorithm for the Polish-language release of Phantom Liberty, the new expansion to CD Projekt's Cyberpunk 2077. In a statement to Bloomberg, the company said it received permission from Reczek's family to do this and that it had considered replacing him in the expansion and rerecording his lines in the original game but decided against it.
"We didn't like this approach," CD Projekt localization director Mikolaj Szwed said in the statement, as Reczek "was one of the best Polish voice talents" and his performance in the game as the doctor Viktor Vektor "was stellar." Instead, CD Projekt hired a different voice actor to perform new lines for the role and then used a Ukraine-based voice-cloning software called Respeecher to create an algorithm that would alter the dialogue to sound like Reczek. "This way we could keep his performance in the game and pay tribute to his wonderful performance as Viktor Vektor," Szwed said.
"We didn't like this approach," CD Projekt localization director Mikolaj Szwed said in the statement, as Reczek "was one of the best Polish voice talents" and his performance in the game as the doctor Viktor Vektor "was stellar." Instead, CD Projekt hired a different voice actor to perform new lines for the role and then used a Ukraine-based voice-cloning software called Respeecher to create an algorithm that would alter the dialogue to sound like Reczek. "This way we could keep his performance in the game and pay tribute to his wonderful performance as Viktor Vektor," Szwed said.
Wait how's that again? (Score:2)
"Instead, CD Projekt hired a different voice actor to perform new lines for the role and then used a Ukraine-based voice-cloning software called Respeecher to create an algorithm that would alter the dialogue to sound like Reczek."
Ukraine has THAT?? Why not put it to good use to end the war - have "Putin" order his troops to go home or shoot each other or something?
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That's funny, but there are people who seriously believe that is within the realm of possibility.
Re: Wait how's that again? (Score:3)
Because the reason Wesley was able to take over the Enterprise was the crew was drunk. Now I'll need a minute to think about how that that doesn't apply to Russian soldiers but trust me I'll come up with something.
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Re:Wait how's that again? (Score:4, Interesting)
Why not put it to good use to end the war - have "Putin" order his troops to go home
They did it last June: hacking Russian channels, broadcasting a fake Putin speech then Ukrainian propaganda https://www.nytimes.com/2023/0... [nytimes.com] Non-paywalled equivalent: ttps://www.itv.com/news/2023-06-05/russia-claims-it-thwarted-ukrainian-attack-in-donetsk-overnight
Thanks Bungie (Score:3)
After iconic actor Lance Reddick died, leaving the central role of Zavala vacant in Destiny 2, there were fears that Bungie would try this, or kill the character off.
Fortunately they hired another excellent actor with a similarly interesting voice, dodging yet another ethical bullet (so they can carry on with addictive reinforcement channelling into microtransactions and subscription-rentier value extraction, but eh whatever).
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And they still did hire a voice actor, this wasn't machine-generated whole cloth just used in effect a glorified fancier version of autotune to match the other voice actor more closely to the deceased one.
It's Better this way (Score:2)
'Tis better to pay money to relatives for new work than to pay money
to companies with near-forever copyright on old work.
Creepy at all? (Score:2)
Am I the only one who finds "bringing back the dead" for entertainment purposes kinda squidgy?
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I'm with you, totally creepy -- it's something that only belongs in dystopian sci-fi novels or Black Mirror, not reality.
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To be fair, actual dead people have been in movies - there's a skeleton out there that willed her remains to the film industry. (She was a stage actress in life, and wanted to keep acting after she kicked the bucket.) She was 'Arch Stanton' in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
Which is both creepy and kind of awesome.
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Hm, I suppose. Still kinda creepy raising the dead. I guess if they said during life they wanted to be brought back after their death it's a little less squidgy. Maybe.
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"pay tribute" (Score:3)
I bet he wanted his family to be paid (Score:2)
Having it both ways will for sure cause a major show stopper, maybe bigger than the current actor's strike in Hollywood