Whether we like it or not, AI is an increasingly omnipresent part of modern life. While the discussions about AI only refer to a distant future a few years ago seemed to relate the technology by media companies. As a result, writers and actors Hollywood’s initial refusal to regulate the technology, and luckily bypass both Strikes ended with the fact that protection against AI was well established. But somehow it still feels like that Müll Future that is populated by AI created films Filled with virtual actors based on the stolen similarities of established stars.
Another result of this quick ascent of AI is that Hollywood speakers are now caught between danger and possibility. The technology for recovery of language wood is good enough that it is difficult for us to say whether a Drake -Diss -Track actually comes from the real Kendrick Lamar or whether Adrien Brodys Hungarian accent in “The Brutalist” is his own speech or AI is “improved”. Dialogue from the Respecher program. AI also speaks more to be used in a flagrant manner, with Morgan Neville admitting to use a AI model of the late Anthony Bourdain voice for parts of his documentary “Roadrunner”. We even saw entire standup specials that were made with a AI language model of the late comedian George Carlin. All of this simply provides more evidence that we will soon be surrounded by virtual approaches from the media that we once loved.
Against this dark background, the veteran “Simpsons” language actor Hank Azaria has now tested the technology that can take a day, and luckily it didn’t go so well.
Is it an inevitable of AI Voice?
At the end of 2024 we saw one of the longest running anime series ever. “A piece,” suffers a big shakedown that could come very well for “The Simpsons”. After 25 years, the anime is not quite as experienced as its American counterpart, which has now been under his belt for 35 years, but it is long enough to officially announce the language actor Kazuki Yao in December 2024, citing Health problems. His official replacement, Subaru Kimura, was soon announced.
The Milhouse speaker Pamela Hayden followed Announcement of your retirement of “The Simpsons” after 35 years In November of the same year. The only saving grace here was that both actors were replaced by AI language models. But once again the ghost of such a technology pursued both announcements, especially since the youngest members of the “Simpsons” caste Hank Azaria and Yeardley Smith are at the age of 60, and the oldest, Harry Shearer, what happens when they? Also in retirement? After all, it seems to be “The Simpsons” at this point in time that it could go on forever. The truth is that AI that something like this would happen, probably not just a practical alternative to switching for the studio that the show would produce, but would also be cheaper and faster. Perhaps worse is that the technology could be good enough at this time to withdraw the detection of the fans.
At the moment it seems that Ai Voice Acting still gives some options for it to actually replace these beloved actors. Azaria, the hundreds of characters on the show, including Moe, Professor Frink, and Chief Wiggum, recently stopped by the New York Times In order to get a feeling for how close it is actually to be replaced by a AI language model, it should be relieved of such a view for everyone that his job is secure for the time being.
Hank Azaria is not convinced that he is being replaced on the Simpsons … for the time being
During his visit to Nyt, Hank Azaria recorded short monologues as various “Simpsons” Fares and heard back to the attempt by the AI program to reproduce every voice. He was not impressed. The very first attempt to record the actors as Moe and listened to a newly produced excerpt from the AI prompted him to react with “that was far away”. Although the model did a decent work to spend Azaria’s Moe, it was missing, which the actor described as “gravel” in order to do this convincingly. “If we tried to sound like a robot,” he said, “that would be a pretty good version of what we tried.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HZ19KPCSE4
It should be noted that Disney is likely to receive hundreds of thousands of line measurements for the use of AI language modeling as a replacement for the Simpsons. produced. Nevertheless, it is at least nice to know that this special experiment was not so convincing.
Ultimately, Azaria dismissed AI technology as unable to replicate “humanity”, “the motivation of a character, certain emotions, subtleties of physicality that lead to a person.” But in his last comments he represented a much more fatal point of view and claimed that “people listen and enjoy and see what they like”.
“It is not important to them whether AI has generated them or a person or a combination of both. At the moment, AI is generated for themselves, as a moe the bartender or anything else, it won’t be cut. If it starts to cut it , people will hear it and they will be grateful that it is so easily available.
I think Azaria is right. But he doesn’t have to be.
A AI-dominated future does not have to happen
During his video interview with The Times, Hank Azaria claimed to be serious about AI last year or so only as a personal turning point Scarlett Johansson strikes in a company because she copied her performance of “her” for her AI -Personal assistant. But even before this example for 2024, the recovery of AI Voice was a problem. Before he died, Darth Vader Voice actor James Earl Jones Respächecher gave permission to use her AI technology in order to create new vocal performances with the actors’ records. As such, Disney now has the ability to reproduce his legendary Darth Vader-Ton-what the company has done for the “Obi-Wan Kenobi” mini series. How Respecher puts it on his officials website“With the technology for machine learning, we managed to create a clone by James Earl Jones’ voice, so that Darth Vader was able to resume his role as a bad Sith Lord in all his glory.”
All of this raises the question of how robust the protective measures of these recent strikes actually are. It is clear that studios are investing strongly in this technology, regardless of whether contracts determine that the similarities and voices of the actors should be protected. Like per Prism reportsIn 2024, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-Aftra) completed two shops with AI companies that enabled the voice actors to licens “digital language replicas” of themselves, which led to controversy among union members, which apparently blindly from developments were.
In the meantime, Azaria wrote an opinion in The New York Times To accompany his video in which he wrote: “I am a little worried. This is my job. That is what I like to do and I don’t want to stop doing it,” added “Technology to Make faces fully human.
In all of what is considered, another strike not only appears a potential option, but also a necessary one. Azaria could be right that some people do not care whether voice achievements will come from people or AI in the future. But it doesn’t have to be the way things go when enough people push back against it. Therefore, the best thing that language actors can do at this point is with their voice to continue to speak.
