Among Us
MICROSOFT-XBOX’S DAMAGING A.I. PUTSCH
Late last year and early this year, veteran non-native English players of the Forza Horizon franchise were stunned to learn that the hit video game’s latest outing did not have any French voice acting. The reason here was simple: French voice actors had failed to come to an agreement with Microsoft on lending their vocal talents to the training of “Artificial Intelligence” models. French actors unions have particularly pushed back on what they see as the theft of their voices via unauthorised usage. While English is the global currency of communication, many still reside outside its sphere of influence and prefer to consume content in their preferred dialect. French as a language serves many Francophone countries with a thriving voice acting industry in France. As America’s monoculture powers the world of entertainment, there has been a need to have American produced content dubbed into non-english dialects for many who would still love to consume the offerings but in a language familiar to them. While Microsoft and other furnishers of A.I. models plans may make economic sense, they are yet to become artistically viable. The recent launch of Halo Studios’ Halo Campaign Evolved has been a particular highlight of this obvious fact with French gamers panning the title for the atrocious French Dub. While Halo’s community manager, Brian Jarrard, has pointed out that the new voices for Master Chief(formerly David Kruger) and Cortana(formerly Laetitia LaFebvre) were performed by real humans, the huge disparity in the quality of the performances has been jarring.
While English is the global currency of communication, many still reside outside its sphere of influence and prefer to consume content in their preferred dialect.
The direct result of this A.I. putsch is that a once great work of art has been rendered mediocre. Great vocals make accessible the inaccessible. Great performances smash through language barriers and at times even exceed the original performances. While Microsoft-Xbox still offers subtitles in many languages, these often serve as petty distractions that detract from the events playing out on screen. It does seem that rather than find a suitable middle ground that would have benefited both parties, Microsoft chose to forego professional French voice acting in its entirety by either using different actors or eschewing the foreign dub entirely. Gaming is poorer for it. Learning a new language often opens up a foreign culture. Triple A titles with huge budgets often serve vast audiences. A signifiant swathe of these audiences will now be relegated to reading subtitles. On the other hand, those who can only engage with foreign languages via the medium of video games will be forced to go elsewhere and via media far less engaging. A.I. is a tool, not a viable replacement regardless of how much “training” and data is thrown its way. It will prove challenging for adepts of this new technology to synthesise the nuance found in an actors/actresses voice performances.
Eurogamer’s religious screed on giving a low score to Embark Studios’ Arc Raiders rings ever louder in infamy. A meaningless crusade that has done little if anything to stifle the encroachment of AI usage in the gaming industry.
While there have been many fanatics denouncing any and all things A.I., much of that anger is misdirected. Eurogamer’s religious screed on giving a low score to Embark Studios’ Arc Raiders rings ever louder in infamy. A meaningless crusade that has done little if anything to stifle the encroachment of AI usage in the gaming industry. AI use is inevitable however it is not unavoidable. Even the various French Voice Actors unions admit that it can be a useful tool making light the arduous burdens of production. It however cannot be a replacement for a performer. It behoves Microsoft-Xbox to find a meaningful and swift resolution to this impasse otherwise their aspirations and hopes pertaining to AI will become the imposter among us slowly desecrating this great industry.
Video companion piece here.
Image credits in order of appearance: Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay; Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay