Yuri Lowenthal, the voice and motion capture actor for Peter Parker in the Marvel’s Spider-Man games, has spoken out about the use of AI to impersonate voices and says that it’s something “everyone should be concerned” about.
Recently, the internet has seen a surge of AI-generated content, including audio impersonations of voice actors ‘saying’ or ‘singing’ things they’ve never actually done out loud. In a new interview with TRG, we asked Lowenthal his thoughts on the matter, and he tells us that it’s “terrifying”.
“Many people don’t quite understand how strongly consent plays into this, but I’d argue that the majority of fans do understand and respect that,” Lowenthal says. “It seems simple to me. How would YOU feel to be impersonated? To be made to say things in public that you had never said nor would ever say? To not have control over your own voice? It’s terrifying. Everyone should be concerned.”
He continues: “There’s still the misguided perception that all actors are fabulously wealthy and shouldn’t be complaining. They’re focused on compensation, rather than consent, so they think, ‘Hey, if I’m not monetizing this, why is it a problem?’”
One prominent example of AI voice impersonation comes from earlier this year when an AI-generated video of Persona 5’s Futaba Sakura singing Welcome to the Internet surfaced online. The video was created using voice actor Erica Lindbeck’s voice lines. Lindbeck asked for the video to be deleted, and while the creator complied, the voice actor still faced backlash online.
Lowenthal tells us: “The tech is still so new and changing so fast, that people have yet to wrap their heads around how big a problem this could become. Sure we’re in the news, but until it happens to them it may be hard to conceive.”
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is one of this year’s most exciting upcoming games, but if you need something to play to pass the time before its October release, be sure to check out our recommendations for the best PS5 games.
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