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Forum - View topicNEWS: Late Voice Actor Kenji Utsumi's Voice Replicated by AI for Sony Audiobook App
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PipimiOden
 Posts: 202 Location: Pennsylvania, USA |
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hmm, doesn't seem that... you know, right? to replicate the dead's voice? you know? might just be me who thinks this, but... eeehhh.... it was questionable enough with that one hal vocaloid thing from years ago but now? eeeeeehhhhhhh.......
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DamianSalazar
Posts: 762 |
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This is disgusting. I don't know what made Sony think that this was a good idea, but using AI to replicate the vocal performances of a dead person is just wrong. If neither Utsumi nor his family sign off on this, then they should scrap this. I imagine Sony and other companies using AI this way aren't going to get enough backlash for this.
EDIT: I have been informed that the Utsumi family approved of this. I guess that's okay, but I still think companies shouldn't disrespect the dead with this practice. Last edited by DamianSalazar on Wed Mar 29, 2023 4:31 am; edited 1 time in total |
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MakiharaMeiko
Posts: 87 |
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His son is in the video and he said that his mother (Utsumi's wife) and he himself wanted to do it. The funny thing about this is at the beginning of the video Utsumi's son said that he doesn't think AI can replace seiyuu, but the narration is being made by an IA and I couldn't say it was x'D Also, why are they helping training an IA? Are they THAT sure they will not be replaced?? I would never agree to do that (unless they pay me everytime they use my voice for an IA...) |
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Fedora-san
 Posts: 464 |
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I assume that's the point. The same way actors and other people can sign off on their likeness being used for advertising and marketing. digital replicated voice usage will be another part of contract negotiation. Movie studios have already been doing digital replacement for actors. Disney bringing back Grand Moff Tarkin and Princess Leia in some of the later Star Wars entries through CG despite their actors being dead. The future is here already. I think it can be a very useful tool in the right circumstances. Already seen it being used in the game modding scene where you can add in new dialog options that otherwise would either be left silent or have someone trying to imitate the voice. I think it'll explode in the Bethesda game modding scene soon enough for new Fallout and Elder Scrolls mod releases. Really crafty people in the past used to use sentence mixing. The old YouTube Poop community mixing words to make it sound like the characters are saying something else. In a way it's kind of sad how easy it is to do that now when it took a lot of effort in the past to get those Zelda CDI characters to sing Ocean Man but now you can do it so easily. |
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Wyvern
 Posts: 1598 |
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Good news actors, thanks to AI we've found a way to exploit you even after you're dead!
Given that Utsumi died 10 years ago, long before this technology existed, I highly doubt he ever expressed an opinion on the matter, let alone said he wanted to do it. |
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Meongantuk
 Posts: 361 |
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While it wasn't as good, Vocaloid exist 10 years ago, in fact there were some talk about reviving dead people's voice using Vocaloid (especially after Gackt lent his voice and the release of Vocaloid 3 and Cevio). |
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MakiharaMeiko
Posts: 87 |
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Precisely because of that his son and wife had the "right" to accept or deny it. It's obvious Utsumi himself can't agree to that being dead x'D |
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Akumatron
Posts: 1 |
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I think this AI voice tech would be a good thing for aging seiyu to extend their youthfulness when they have to voice eternally young, never aging characters.
Or when seiyu dies, I could see companies offering a lot of money to their families, in order to use their iconic voices even after they are gone. |
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Kusakabe
Posts: 110 |
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I agree with this. It's the same sort of ethics with bringing back live action actors to be honest. I feel like the conversation always goes to opportunistic actors demanding that another actor should get a chance at the role, instead of preserving the legacy of actors who have defined a character for so long. It doesn't involve me though, so I only say this as someone unaffected outside of entertainment value. Last edited by Kusakabe on Wed Mar 29, 2023 9:37 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Kadmos1
 Posts: 13617 Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP |
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Even if they were legally allowed to do this, it would be morally- and ethically-questionable if the family had not given the approval. Now, even when a family gives the nod and even if the person themselves whose voice was being replicated gave the nod, just because one can do such a replication doesn't necessarily mean they should.
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ximpalullaorg
Posts: 396 |
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Coefont has been offering this service since their "web studio" went out of beta, so it doesn't surprise me.
Normal users can create their own "AI voice" that can be also used by other users. I'm not sure how popular this particular feature is, as I've been using only Coefont's own characters (Arial, Mirial and Avenir). The company recently took a lot of flak for restricting the most advanced AI voice only to the highest pay subscribers (highest tier of subscription) and, for a short time, essentially prohibiting youtube monetization of videos using Coefont. In this case the backlash was so strong they reversed the decision. |
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Righteous_Groove
Posts: 31 |
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I wonder how big of a payout Sony gives when they want to turn your loved one’s legacy into a cashgrab.
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L'Imperatore
 Posts: 936 |
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Likely lower than how much Disney gave to Peter Cushing's family for permission to use his likeness in Rogue One... or Chadwick Boseman's for his social media account. |
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thekingsdinner
 Posts: 1098 Location: Geertruidenberg, Netherlands |
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Regardless of consent/permission and all that... it feels wrong to me. It feels unnatural because how literally unnatural it is. No matter how well AI can replicate a person's voice, I'd feel gross listening to it.
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Dernu
 Posts: 8 |
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I don't know what drives them to put Synthesis Images or AI all the time just to give themselves a genre. There is more and more vague content like this guy. Not to mention the fact that people take everything today, without seeing the quality of the video. And that's also the case for the synthesized voices that you present here, even if I find that it can do it when the dubber is dead for example. spoiler[Besides making the thing look weird, it's ugly! Look at the second part of Berserk in anime? That's all it's made of! We are not in the early 2000's anymore, y2k is over. The end of Berserk was really well shot, especially the scene with the Gods Hand. The graphic scene was really interesting, not to mention the rape scene of Casca which was really powerful. The music, the scenery, and everything else... Whaouh!!! It was really one of the anime that introduced the genre of the years 2000, the large clothes, the colors a little patteuse of the characters... And then, in 2017, BAM. We do something totally different, but it sucks! A 3D really slapped from the ass, it's so ugly that I throw bleach water in my eyes to clean it up] 
Last edited by Dernu on Fri Apr 07, 2023 8:37 am; edited 3 times in total |
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