Artificial Intelligence is everywhere. In the next few years it will be integrated in many devices and in all social media.
Quick reminder: I’m Paul, a voice actor from the Netherlands who has settled down in Vermont. I’m quitting the business and in this series I’m telling you why.
Please keep in mind that these are my thoughts and observations. Do with it what you want. Don’t agree with me because what I say sounds okay. Hear me out and make up your own mind, please!
LOST IN TRANSLATION
When I first came to the United States, I made some money on the side as a freelance translator. In less than a year I got priced out of most of my jobs (that weren’t paying much anyway), thanks to translation software. Software that never sleeps, never gets sick, doesn’t need any vacation or maternity leave, and only requires a modest upfront investment.
Granted, this software wasn’t perfect but it was good enough. In the beginning these artificial translations were very literal, but gradually the software started to understand things like context, irony, and even jokes. It was able to learn. Translating literature still required a human hand, but especially non-fiction could be translated by a machine in a matter of minutes at a fraction of the cost.
And now the folks that are perfecting text-to-speech software and AI voices are coming for your jobs. It’s happening as we speak… or should I say…. as we stay silent? And don’t think for a second that we can put that genie back into the bottle.
SEND IN THE CLONES
The time when these fake computer-generated voices sounded like robots, is far behind us. Using only a few minutes of a recording of your voice, nefarious characters can create a spitting image of the way you speak, and program a computer to call your parents using your virtual voice, and ask them to transfer money to any bank account in the world.
Voters are being fooled by a computer-generated voice of our president, telling them to stay home instead of going to the poles, manipulating the outcome of the election. International instigators can clone the voice of Vladimir Putin and have “him” threaten to pull the nuclear trigger if his demands are not met. Don’t you love it?
If we’re unable to tell fake from the real deal, whom or what can we trust? Legislation does not keep up with technology, so we lack legal protection. I’m painting with broad strokes, but you get the picture, right?
And don’t tell me people will always prefer the real thing. I grew up on margarine and Tang orange because it was cheaper and it didn’t taste half bad. It was easy to get used to.
FAKE IS FABULOUS
These days “authentic” is the buzz word in voice overs. You have to sound and be “authentic.” But if you spend five minutes scrolling a platform like TikTok, you see that people are touching up reality all the time. They use fancy filters to create flawless inauthentic faces and camera angles that only show the good and never the bad and the ugly. People actually prefer fake, especially the younger generation. It’s all about the nearly perfect image you want to create to fool your followers.
We are getting more and more used to these artificial voices that handle our checkout at the supermarket, that can read the newspaper to us, and that are used in voice response systems. And it doesn’t stop there. TikTok has introduced Avatars that look and sound like real people who can do the talking for you and it’s free!
Can you compete with free?
Radio stations are experimenting with AI, and movie studios replicate the voices of their stars for dialogue replacement and touchups so they don’t have to pay astronomical fees to celebrities.
AI goggles like Apple’s Vision Pro allow you to step into an artificial world tricking your brain into believing that what you see and hear is real. We’re getting baited and hooked, people!
JOBS ARE AT RISK
Anything that doesn’t require authenticity, is fair game. Let me repeat that: Anything that doesn’t require authenticity, is fair game. So far, AI can’t bleed or cry, but I’m sure they’re working on it. If you can make people believe that they’re listening to the sultry voice of Scarlett Johansson, a voice created by AI, the sky is the limit.
Just like the translators were replaced by software, voice overs are replaced by AI every single day. Especially people that aren’t trained actors, the ones that make a living reading non-fiction scripts that don’t require them to emote, are losing their jobs to the new technology.
This trend can only be stopped if enough consumers care. And I have a feeling that very few people care about the ethical implications of AI, or about the fate of the poor voice over. All we do is read, right? How hard can that be? We’re invisible, so what you don’t see does not affect you.
Listen, I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer, but I’ve seen the writing on the wall. Jobs that require a whole spectrum of human emotions and authenticity are still safe. But for how long, I don’t know. Any technology that will cut costs and increase profits will be embraced by people who don’t give a damn about ethical implications.
It’s one of the many reasons I’m leaving the business.
I have much more to tell you, so keep on reading!
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