If you are battling a video game goblin who speaks with a Cockney accent, or asking a gruff Scottish blacksmith to forge a virtual sword, you might be hearing the voice of actor Andy Magee.

Except itB次元官网网址檚 not quite MageeB次元官网网址檚 voice. ItB次元官网网址檚 a synthetic voice clone generated by artificial intelligence.

As video game worlds get more expansive, some game studios are experimenting with AI tools to give voice to a potentially unlimited number of characters and conversations. It also saves time and money on the B次元官网网址渧ocal scratchB次元官网网址� recordings game developers use as placeholders to test scenes and scripts.

The response from professional actors has been mixed. Some fear that AI voices could replace all but the most famous human actors if big studios have their way. Others, like Magee, have been willing to give it a try if theyB次元官网网址檙e fairly compensated and their voices arenB次元官网网址檛 misused.

B次元官网网址淚 hadnB次元官网网址檛 really anticipated AI voices to be my break into the industry, but, alas, I was offered paid voice work, and I was grateful for any experience I could get at the time,B次元官网网址� said Magee, who grew up in Northern Ireland and has previously worked as a craft brewery manager, delivery driver and farmer.

He now specializes in voicing a diverse range of characters from the British Isles, turning what he used to consider a party trick into a rewarding career.

AI voice clones donB次元官网网址檛 have the best reputation, in part because theyB次元官网网址檝e been misused to create convincing deepfakes of real people B次元官网网址� from to the B次元官网网址� saying things they never said. Some early attempts by independent developers to add them to video games have also been poorly received, both by gamers and actors B次元官网网址� not all of whom consented to having their voices used in that way.

Most of the big studios havenB次元官网网址檛 yet employed AI voices in a noticeable way and are still in ongoing negotiations on how to use them with , which also represents game performers. Concerns about how movie studios will use last yearB次元官网网址檚 strikes by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists but when it comes to game studios, the union is showing signs that a deal is likely.

Sarah Elmaleh, who has played the Cube Queen in Fortnite and numerous other high-profile roles in blockbuster and indie games, said she has B次元官网网址渁lways been one of the more conservative voicesB次元官网网址� on AI-generated voices but now considers herself more agnostic.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e seen some uses where the (game developerB次元官网网址檚) interest was a shortcut that was exploitative and was not done in consultation with the actor,B次元官网网址� said Elmaleh, who chairs SAG-AFTRAB次元官网网址檚 negotiating committee for interactive media.

But in other cases, she said, the role of an AI voice is often invisible and used to clean up a recording in the later stages of production, or to make a character sound older or younger at a different stage of their virtual life.

B次元官网网址淭here are use cases that I would consider with the right developer, or that I simply feel that the developer should have the right to offer to an actor, and then an actor should have the right to consider that it can be done safely and fairly without exploiting them,B次元官网网址� Elmaleh said.

SAG-AFTRA has already made a deal with one AI voice company, Replica Studios, announced last month at the CES gadget show in Las Vegas. The agreement B次元官网网址� which described as B次元官网网址渁 great example of AI being done rightB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� enables major studios to work with unionized actors to create and license a digital replica of their voice. It sets terms that also allow performers to opt out of having their voices used in perpetuity.

B次元官网网址淓veryone says theyB次元官网网址檙e doing it with ethics in mind,B次元官网网址� but most are not and some are training their AI systems with voice data pulled off the internet without the speakerB次元官网网址檚 permission, said Replica Studios CEO Shreyas Nivas.

Nivas said his company licenses characters for a period of time. To clone a voice, it will schedule a recording session and ask the actor to voice a script either in their regular voice or the voice of the character they are performing.

B次元官网网址淭hey control whether they wish to go ahead with this,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 creating new revenue streams. WeB次元官网网址檙e not replacing actors.B次元官网网址�

It was Replica Studios that first reached out to Magee about a voice-over audio clip he had created demonstrating a Scottish accent. Working from his home studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, heB次元官网网址檚 since created a number of AI replicas and pitched his own ideas for them. For each character heB次元官网网址檒l record lines with distinct emotions B次元官网网址� some happy, some sad, some in battle duress. Each mood gets about 7,000 words, and the final audio dataset amounts to several hours covering all of a characterB次元官网网址檚 styles.

Once cloned, a paid subscriber of ReplicaB次元官网网址檚 text-to-speech tool can make that voice say pretty much anything B次元官网网址� within certain guidelines.

Magee said the experience has opened doors to a range of acting experiences that donB次元官网网址檛 involve AI B次元官网网址� including a role in the upcoming strategy game Godsworn.

Voice actor Zeke Alton, whose credits include more than a dozen roles in the military action franchise, hasnB次元官网网址檛 yet agreed to lending his voice to an AI replica. But he understands why studios might want them as they try to scale up game franchises such as BaldurB次元官网网址檚 Gate where players can explore vast, open worlds and encounter elves, warlocks or aliens at every corner.

B次元官网网址淗ow do you populate thousands of planets with walking, talking entities while paying every single actor for every single individual? That just becomes unreasonable at a point,B次元官网网址� said Alton, who also sits on the SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee for interactive media.

Alton is also open to AI tools that reduce some of the most physically straining work in creating game characters B次元官网网址� the grunts, shouts and other sounds of characters in battle, as well as the movements of jumping, striking, falling and dying required in motion-capture scenes.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 one of those people that is not interested so much in banning AI,B次元官网网址� Alton said. B次元官网网址淚 think thereB次元官网网址檚 a way forward for the developers to get their tools and make their games better, while bringing along the performers so that we maintain the human artistry.B次元官网网址�