Baldur’s Gate 3 actors call for AI regulation as game companies seek to replace human talent

Baldur’s Gate 3 actors Neil Newbon and Samantha Béart are pushing back against the games industry’s rise of AI voices in new games. 

With titles like The Finals opting to use AI voices instead of hiring human talent, there’s an overhanging worry that human actors will be phased out to reduce cost. 

Baldur’s Gate 3 actors against AI

After a leaked PlayStation tech demo showed an AI recreation of Horizon Zero Dawn’s Aloy talking to players, the issue of generative voice work is even more pressing than before. 

Speaking to EDGE Magazine, Baldur’s Gate 3’s Karlach actor Samantha Béart explained that “essentially, [CEOs pushing AI] just want to save money.”

“In the long term, it’ll destroy their reputation, their company, everything,” the actor said. 

Astarion actor Neil Newbon, a performer that famously ad-libbed the character’s best moment in the game, called for heavy AI regulation. “AI will have deep ramifications across all industries if not ethically regulated by people,” they said. 

“As an artist, I believe in experiencing life and art through human expression, not software,” he continued. “AI, after all, is built on the work originally created by humans, and there is a fundamental difference between the two.”

While some actors have allowed themselves to be recreated with AI for powerful reasons, such as Val Kilmer using the technology to regain his voice actor after a battle with throat cancer, companies are looking to use the technology to underpay performers and increase profit. 

In the interview, Béart criticised actors that are allowing themselves to be exploited via AI voice generation saying the art and the technology are “like oil and water”. 

“Why would you do it? You’ve just signed your way out of any sort of job or career,” she said. “We have an industry of highly artistic people who’ve had a calling to do this stuff, and then you’ve got these people with money, who don’t play games, who see it as an easy way to make a return on investment.

“The dream of the tech industry is to sell off your company at an overinflated price and retire,” she continued. “And I feel that’s being done with game studios right now. It’s the same people who worship at the altar of [former General Electric CEO Jack Welch, who made loads of money off austerity, before the company tanked after his retirement].”

Baldur’s Gate 3 is a game renowned for its fantastic acting and its stellar writing, all created by talented and passionate humans with love for their craft. It’s the reason why Lae’zel’s voice matures as her story evolves, the reason we all fell in love with Shadowheart. Even the reason we all accidentally started dating Gale on launch was because the game was coded by humans, and that’s the magic of art. 

For people that can’t, AI can feel like a magical tool, but it’s at the cost of people that can and people that want. It’s also at the cost of learning, acquiring skill, and the cost of allowing people to fail. At the end of the day, the cost is the human experience, and that really blows. Sorry, I’m not a great writer, but let me fail.