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Why James Earl Jones is letting AI use his Darth Vader voice—and what it means for voice actors

During an acting career that spanned more than six decades, James Earl Jones’ voice became an indelible part of his acting career.

On screen, Jones, who died Monday at age 93, brought to life the writer who returned to the spotlight in “Field of Dreams” and the proud king of the fictional world in “Coming To America.” On stage, he won two Tony Awards for “The Great White Hope” and “Fences.” His work as a voice actor — the regal dignity of his portrayal of Mufasa in “The Lion King” and the fearsome and deep timbre he lent to Darth Vader in “Star Wars” — helped solidify his place as a popular actor among generations of fans. .

But after his death, one aspect of Jones’ work has come to the fore: his acknowledgment of the use of artificial intelligence to replicate his performance as Darth Vader after he left the role. Skywalker Sound and Ukrainian company Respeecher used AI to recreate Jones’ villain for 2022’s “Obi-Wan Kenobi” on Disney+. Mark Hamill’s voice was also “aged” using Respeecher for his appearance as Luke Skywalker in “The Mandalorian.”

Voice actors say they fear that AI could reduce or eliminate jobs because the technology could be used to replicate one performance in many other moves without their consent – a concern that led video game players and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists to strike in late July.

For some, Jones’ decision to allow an AI to repeat his voice raises questions about the performance of the voice as art, but it also serves to lay bare the task of AI conventions that fairly compensate the actor for their performance with consent. Zeke Alton, a voice actor and member of the SAG-AFTRA media agreement negotiating committee, said it was “amazing” that Jones was involved in the process of duplicating his voice.

“If the game companies, the movie companies, gave permission, transparent compensation to all the actors they gave to James Earl Jones, we wouldn’t be on strike,” Alton said. “It proves that they can do it. They just don’t want to do it for people who feel they don’t have the power to buy for themselves.”

Hollywood video game players have announced a work stoppage – their second in a decade – after more than 18 months of negotiations over a new media deal with the gaming industry giants breaching artificial intelligence protections. Union members said they are not against AI. Artists are concerned, however, technology can give studios ways to get rid of them.

Concerns about how movie studios will use AI helped fuel last year’s film and television union strikes, which lasted four months.

Jones, who overcame a childhood stutter, said in past interviews that he was “happy to be able to speak at all, because there was a time when I couldn’t.” He said his goal was to make his voice clear. Speaking to the Associated Press in 1994, he said he tried to make Darth Vader “more human and more interesting.” But George Lucas, the film producer who created “Star Wars,” advised him to “go back to a very small speech bubble” because the villain’s mechanical body parts would make it difficult for him to sound human.

Neither Skywalker Sound nor Respeecher responded to a request for comment. But Skywalker Sound’s sound editor told Vanity Fair that Jones signed off on the use of the archives to keep Darth Vader alive and that he directed Darth Vader’s performance in the Disney+ game as “a benevolent god.”

Voice actor Brock Powell said that the ability to use an actor like Jones’ voice endlessly would eliminate the need for voice actors. That kind of work provides consistent jobs for many actors, they said, who can recreate popular voices for video games, animated series and other forms of media.

“To quote ‘Jurassic Park,’ the scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to ask if they should,” Powell said.

That kind of use of AI can also reduce the “ingenuity” in acting, they say, because new actors may not have the opportunity to step in and revive a role.

Crispin Freeman, an actor who did a voice-over job imitating the voice of Orlando Bloom in “Pirates of the Caribbean,” said technology may take away voice-over roles, but it doesn’t hurt “the ability of future singers to sing their songs.” ” in new roles.

“We always need to keep reinventing new issues as we move forward, not relying on old things,” he said. “Instead of worrying, ‘Oh, is someone else going to be Darth Vader,’ why don’t we make a new ‘Star Wars’ character as compelling as Darth Vader?”

Jones’ contract could serve as an example of how to properly negotiate with an actor about their similarities, said Sarah Elmaleh, chairwoman of SAG-AFTRA’s collective bargaining committee. Elmaleh, who is a voice actor, said there is an opportunity for these tools to be used in “thoughtful and intelligent artistic decisions.”

“I worry about a world where we associate the superficial qualities of a person’s voice with the way they work,” she said. “I can’t help but stay away from the metaphor embedded in this character itself, that is, when you combine a man with a machine, you become an instrument of another power, another power.”

Alton, a voice actor, said he wondered what the use of Jones’ voice as Darth Vader would mean if it wasn’t used for another 100 years and people didn’t remember “all the different things that made him a popular actor.” he was.”

“At that time it is a different voice of the body. It’s part of the creative neutering that artificial AI has the potential to do, and it’s kind of an important topic, but it’s really important for us as a world to think about what we want our entertainment and our art to be in the future,” he said. “Do we want it to be human, or do we want it to be nothing?”

-Sarah Parvini, technology writer for the Associated Press


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