Marvel’s Spider-Man star Yuri Lowenthal says AI voice impersonation is “terrifying”
“Everyone should be concerned”
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Yuri Lowenthal, the voice and motion capture actor for Peter Parker in theMarvel’s Spider-Mangames, has spoken out about the use of AI to impersonate voices and says that it’s something “everyone should be concerned” about.
Recently, the internet has seen a surge of AI-generated content, including audio impersonations of voice actors ‘saying’ or ‘singing’ things they’ve never actually done out loud. In a newinterview with TRG, we asked Lowenthal his thoughts on the matter, and he tells us that it’s “terrifying”.
“Many people don’t quite understand how strongly consent plays into this, but I’d argue that the majority of fans do understand and respect that,” Lowenthal says. “It seems simple to me. How would YOU feel to be impersonated? To be made to say things in public that you had never said nor would ever say? To not have control over your own voice? It’s terrifying. Everyone should be concerned.”
He continues: “There’s still the misguided perception that all actors are fabulously wealthy and shouldn’t be complaining. They’re focused on compensation, rather than consent, so they think, ‘Hey, if I’m not monetizing this, why is it a problem?’”
One prominent example of AI voice impersonation comes from earlier this year when an AI-generated video ofPersona 5’s Futaba Sakura singingWelcome to the Internetsurfaced online. The video was created using voice actor Erica Lindbeck’s voice lines. Lindbeck asked for the video to be deleted, and while the creator complied, the voice actor still faced backlash online.
Lowenthal tells us: “The tech is still so new and changing so fast, that people have yet to wrap their heads around how big a problem this could become. Surewe’rein the news, but until it happens to them it may be hard to conceive.”
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2is one of this year’s most excitingupcoming games, but if you need something to play to pass the time before its October release, be sure to check out our recommendations for thebest PS5 games.
Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.
Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.
Catherine is a News Writer for TechRadar Gaming. Armed with a journalism degree from The University of Sheffield, she was sucked into the games media industry after spending far too much time on her university newspaper writing about Pokémon and cool indie games, and realising that was a very cool job, actually. She previously spent 19 months working at GAMINGbible as a full-time journalist. She loves all things Nintendo, and will never stop talking about Xenoblade Chronicles.
I reviewed the PS5 Pro and recommend these 7 enhanced games to try first
Lords of the Fallen is the latest game to get confirmed PS5 Pro enhancements and support
How to turn off Meta AI
