"Tomb Raider Remastered": French voice of Lara Croft created with AI
The voice of Lara Croft in the French version of "Tomb Raider Remastered" was created with AI. The original voice actress fights back.
(Image: Asypr)
In the French version of “Tomb Raider Remastered,” AI was apparently used to create the voice of Lara Croft. Françoise Cadol, the voice actress hired for the original, reported this to the newspaper Le Parisien. She has filed a cease-and-desist letter with publisher Aspyr.
It concerns the new edition collection “Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered,” published in February. Aspyr uses the original voice-over for this but has introduced new voice-overs for some sections. The voice used in these passages vaguely resembles Cadol, writes Le Parisien. However, it has been trained with Cadol's voice and created using AI.
Differences sometimes very clear
Videos showing the differences are circulating online. The use of AI is sometimes more, sometimes less obvious. It is unclear how and why Cadol's voice was changed or regenerated with AI in the first place. Some users report that the AI voice was only added to the game later with a patch.
Initially, fans had drawn her attention to the AI editing of her voice, says Cadol Le Parisien. According to the newspaper, other languages could also be affected using AI, including Italian and Spanish. Aspyr did not want to answer a question from Le Parisien.
Videos by heise
The games company has also not yet commented publicly on the allegations. However, the YouTuber “Tomb Raider de A a Z” has published a screenshot of a statement that Aspyr is said to have sent to Brazilian voice actress Lene Bastos, whose voice was apparently also imitated with AI. In it, Aspyr writes of a mistake for which an external partner studio is responsible. They are working on removing the AI passages and restoring the originals, according to the authentic-looking statement.
The fear of AI copies of their voices has been a concern for video game voice actors for several years. Protection against AI voices is one of the main points of a new contract that voice actors in the SAG-AFTRA union negotiated with US game manufacturers in the summer. Union members had previously been on strike for months.
(dahe)
