Last week, Sony’s experiments with making an AI Aloy from the Horizon franchise leaked out. Today, we have an update from no less than Aloy’s voice actress herself.
Just to review, a video leaked with a Sony researcher revealing that they made a chatbot Aloy using large language model technologies. They used OpenAI’s GPT-4, Meta’s LlaMa 3, as well as Sony’s own Emotional Voice Synthesis (EVS) system. We aren’t 100 % certain that EVS is itself LLM or AI model technology in general, but it’s notable that it works with generative AI technology.
As reported by Video Games Chronicle, Aloy’s voice actor from the Horizon games, Ashly Burch, made a Tiktok about the situation. In her words:
“I wanted to talk about AI Aloy.
I saw the tech demo earlier this week. Guerrilla reached out to let me know that the demo didn’t reflect anything that was actively in development. They didn’t use any of my performance for the demo, none of my facial or voice data. Guerrilla owns Aloy as a character.”
Burch went on to say that in spite of Guerrilla’s reassurances, the video raised some worries in her. Again, to quote her directly:
“We are currently on strike. SAG-AFTRA is currently on strike against video games because of AI, because this technology exists, and because we know that game companies want to use it. We are asking for protections.”
As she sums up, she isn’t worried about the technology existing or game companies wanting to use it. The worry is if a video like that comes out that did use a human actor’s performance, that actor would have no recourse.
These fears and worries in the performing arts are not new. In fact, they existed even before generative AI and AI model technology itself. Famously, Jet Li revealed in an interview that he turned down the role of Seraph in the Matrix movies, because he did not want Warner Bros. to own the rights to his performance capture.
Later, Jet Li willingly did performance capture of his martial arts for Sony’s PlayStation 2 video game Jet Li: Rise To Honor. So the issue is not about actors, or in a more general sense, workers, being afraid of and getting in the way of technological progress.
It’s perfectly reasonable while these technologies are being explored, for workers to seek protections for their livelihood. This is not even a particularly new development; it’s just that the technology and the industry being impacted changes.
Burch did bring back an issue that may have dropped out of the minds of gamers; the voice actor strike against the video game industry that started last July is still ongoing. With no clear resolution in sight, it’s also unclear what will happen moving forward, but gamers should recognize that games in the coming years will be affected by this strike.
