AI voices Darth Vader in Star Wars series

Actor James Earl Jones, the principal voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars film saga, has allowed the Ukrainian tech startup Respeecher to use artificial intelligence to voice the character. According to Vanity Fair.

After 45 years voicing Darth Vader, Jones told Lucasfilm that he ‘is considering the possibility of getting rid of the character.’ Skywalker Sound’s chief sound designer, Matthew Wood, suggested that the actor enlist Respeecher. The company uses artificial intelligence technology and archival recordings to clone the voices of stars who have lost their ability to speak or have died.

With the actor’s consent, the studio asked the startup to ensure that Vader sounds like ‘the villain of the Dark Side of the Force from 45 years ago,’ Jones. The AI-assisted voice was used in the 2022 miniseries ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi.’ As a result, the antagonist speaks as in the older films, unlike Jones’s actual voice in ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ (2019).

The actor supervised the cinematographers’ work and was pleased with the result.

According to Wood, despite Lucasfilm’s use of artificial intelligence, the actor remains a ‘benevolent godfather’ and helps the studio steer the portrayal of the villain.

Earlier, Respeecher helped Lucasfilm voice a younger version of Luke Skywalker in the TV series The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. According to a press release, to recreate the digital voice of the character, developers used excerpts from radio broadcasts, interviews, ADR, and dubs with Mark Hamill.

In April, British actors spoke out against the use of artificial intelligence in the film industry.

In July 2021, the makers of a documentary about the famous chef Anthony Bourdain, who died in 2018, used AI to voice his quotes.

In August, the company Sonantic, using artificial intelligence, recreated the voice of actor Val Kilmer, who had lost his voice to throat cancer.

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