'AI is coming for all of us:' Mass Effect, Metal Gear Solid, and Baldur's Gate voice actor Jennifer Hale weighs in on SAG-AFTRA's games industry strike

Goronmon@lemmy.world to Games@lemmy.world – 352 points –
'AI is coming for all of us:' Mass Effect, Metal Gear Solid, and Baldur's Gate voice actor Jennifer Hale weighs in on SAG-AFTRA's games industry strike
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I hope not. Jennifer Hale is amazing. She’s the reason I’ve never played as male Shepard in mass effect. She also voiced Bastila in knights of the old republic. Incredible skill/talent.

Do one maleshep run. I promise he has some great deliveries too.

How do you play through that tripe twice? It has next to no challenge and the story is beyond stupid.

Because you don't play it for a harsh challenge, the story is pretty decent, but I played it for worldbuilding, art style, ensemble cast, feeling of adventure and journey across a galaxy. That sort of broad feeling stuff.

I really enjoyed the characters. When I think about Mass Effect 3, for example, I think of how I felt when making peace between the Quarians and the Geth, because of how I had gotten to know the characters of Tali and Legion. Or Wrex enthusiastically greeting Shepard as an old friend, something that's only possible if you talk him down in the first game.

I was as disappointed as everyone else at the actual ending to Mass Effect 3, and I do think the plot goes a bit weird even before that (the ending boss fight of mass effect 2 is a bit weird, but again, I think more of the personal stakes that had been set up by good character writing (plus Jack Wall's "Suicide Mission" makes what could've been overly cheesy instead feel grand and epic)), but I found the smaller, interpersonal stories that Mass Effect tells to be quite compelling.

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I'm not really a gamer, but I listen to a lot of audiobooks.

AI isn't anywhere close to being able to replace "good" narrators. Maybe a bit like self driving cars - the first 90% was achieved rapidly, the next 5% took some doing but ok, now though the final 5% seems kinda unachievable on any timescale.

That said, automation (and yes, AI) tends to approach industries incrementally. A headline voice actor isn't going to be replaced tomorrow, but maybe some low level roles are. Fewer voice actors just means less demand for the really good ones. Def not good for the industry but... time marches on I guess.

How do you think headline voice actors start? By doing the small roles like wallas, ad libs, waiter2 and such.

If you get rid of the starting voice actors of today, you get rid of the good voice actors of tomorrow.

She did the Goblins webcomic animated trailer allng with Phil Lamarr! Super stoked for that.

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