Aoni Production (Nozawa Management Agency) Collaborate on AI-Replicated Voice Service Trained on Voice Actors

[M16U3L2015]

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2 ... rs/.216457

"Talent management agency Aoni Production and AI voice platform CoeFont announced a new partnership on Monday. The first project under the partnership uses vocal data from 10 voice actors, including Masako Nozawa and Banjō Ginga, to create AI-replicated voices for use in virtual assistants (such as Alexa and Google Assistant), medical devices, robots, and voice-assisted navigation.

The AI-replicated voices will be available in multiple languages, beginning with English and Chinese.

The new project acknowledges the potential threat to performerrs' rights and livelihoods posed by the use of generative AI, and promises that it will not use the voice training data for performances in animation, dubs, or similar works."

[JulieYBM]

I remember when Pocket Monsters: The Distant Blue Sky (2022.12.23) special used old, unrelated bits of Ishizuka Unshou's voice recordings from older episodes and films to create a jumbled together narration for the special. It sounded so bad, of course, but what really got me was just how it felt like canabalizing a dead man's work for nostalgia bait. Similarly, Star Trek has continued to reuse the old voice recordings of Majel Barret for the Enterprise computer.

Honestly, I just find it all very distasteful. Find new voices. Let go.

[Zephyr]

It's okay, they promised they won't use it for voice acting.

[coola]

It's okay, they promised they won't use it for voice acting.

Ah, ok, i trust them, corpo people are such nice guys

To be able to use face or voice of decased person is so wrong.
1. It takes away some of "magic" you know that VA is gone, so you can cherish their old work.
2. Gone are different incarnations of same characters. No more Bond played by Roger Moore or Timothy Dalthon...

[Jord]

https://youtube.com/shorts/G8kWG9L0sOE? ... CKi2ttPzWQ

I found this. Obviously it's a very early attempt at AI using basic tools but I wouldn't mind it for the English dub.

[Saiya6Cit]

Oh... these are... shocking news. Or... I might just be too old...now... too old for the internet and too old to be trending. What I mean of course is that neither I own nor I use an alexa. As many other DB products this is something I will simply not get.

Having said that. I am afraid I also have mixed feelings on this topic. When I was reading the first lines of this post, it got me mad because I thought this was referring to utilizing the voice actor's recorded voice to dub new anime without paying them for it. But I see now that it is for the purpose of entertainment and customization of gadgets... Which I can understand how it can be fun for many. In fact, personally, having Vegeta's voice with the voice of Mr. Rene Garcia interpretation of the character sounds incredibly tempting... thankfully it is not an option... yet...

I wish DB success on this because I want to see Dragon Ball become ethernal.

And thank you mr. OP for posting about this, I believe otherwise I would not have found out.

[BootyCheeksJohnson]

If it's using Nozawa's voice for something like an Alexa or Siri I guess there's not much harm in that long term. Now if Toei attempted to unironically use this for future Dragon Ball productions after her passing that would be wrong. It makes the actor into a meat puppet.

[lola2323]

It's okay, they promised they won't use it for voice acting.

Ah, ok, i trust them, corpo people are such nice guys

To be able to use face or voice of decased person is so wrong.
1. It takes away some of "magic" you know that VA is gone, so you can cherish their old work.
2. Gone are different incarnations of same characters. No more Bond played by Roger Moore or Timothy Dalthon...

Speaking of AI's impact, it is also transforming education. For example, AI-based learning management systems personalize the learning process and automate administrative tasks. Here is an informative article show details of an AI-powered LMS: Comparative analysis of AI-based learning platforms. However, it is crucial to ensure that such advances respect the rights of performers and their livelihoods.

I agree that there's something special about remembering the originals and seeing new takes by different actors over time!

[MCDaveG]

I wonder, how will Masako Nozawa sound in english. While I am not a fan of artificial actors, be it James Earl Jones being synthesized for new Darth Vader appearances or full digital recreations, imagine the fun on the fan side of things, to try to do a dub version of some scenes, with Japanese actors speaking the lines in english )))
Luke Skywalker in Book Of Boba Fett, while visually miles better than in Mandalorian, sounds completely lifeless and uncanny and I prefer recasting and the whole human approach of course – real human acting skills/art.

It does make sense for things like information systems, navigation, voice aids, hence the actors don't have to spend weeks/months in studio, recording every word and line. Happy that that's the goal of this collaboration.