HoYoverse recently opened up a new job that led to voice actor Kyle McCarley claiming that the company could be using voice data for AI training. For those who don't know, Kyle McCarley is best known for voicing 9S from Nier Automata, Alm from Fire Emblem: Shadows of Valentia, and Shigeo Kageyama from Mob Psycho. The recent job he's referring to was called "Researcher, Speech and Audio (University Graduates)."
Although that job doesn't seem to be on LinkedIn anymore, other job postings of a similar nature can still be found on sites like Simplify. The following tweet was the claim from Kyle McCarley, which includes him saying:
"They are using your work to train generative AI models."
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NAVA is the National Voice Actors Association, which made a NAVA AI Rider that addresses much of the latest concerns regarding AI using voice actors' own voices. They don't want people to lose their unique voice forever by stripping their rights away to companies that could use their talents via AI technology.
In this case, Kyle McCarley is warning people who voice characters on HoYoverse games about how the company is looking for people who can create generative models capable of doing just that.
Other details about this voice actor's claims regarding HoYoverse using AI technology
Kyle McCarley later claims that even if HoYoverse isn't using voice-over work for AI just yet, they still can do so in the future. He simply wants voice actors to be cautious and try to protect their rights when signing contracts, which is why he previously recommended they send HoYoverse the NAVA AI Rider.
It is worth noting that miHoYo has used AI before to voice Lumi_N0va. For example, the following video's description references that.
In the description of the above livestream is a line that says:
"Voice:Anti-Entropy AI"
On a related note, Tears of Themis also used AI to replace Jiang Guangtao's voice when the voice actor was cooperating with police on an investigation at the time. Thus, there is precedence for the company to use artificial intelligence to voice characters.
HoYoverse is a subsidiary of miHoYo, so Kyle McCarley's claims aren't entirely unfounded. It is worth noting that it's not just McCarley bringing up worries about AI replacing voice actors in the near future.
Other VAs discuss the potential dangers of AI to their work
Xander Mobus (best known for his work as the narrator in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate) also brought up how AI is unlikely to be used just to alter voice lines. He brings up how VAs could do pick-up sessions to tweak some lines and how it's already difficult as it is to pay the bills pre-AI.
Mick Wingert (the voice actor for Genshin Impact's Dottore) also brings up how disappointing the latest news is. Many VAs don't want to lose their voice to AI, to the extent that even important roles like Dottore's could potentially be cast aside for this job posting.
Henry Scrader normally voices a lot of minor NPCs in Genshin Impact, and he also wants to bring attention to the latest AI voice modeling job posts. Given the recency of this news, there has been no comment from miHoYo about this controversy.
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