Metal Gear Solid's Colonel Campbell unhappy with anyone using his voice without permission, including AI
As Persona actress leaves Twitter following AI dispute.
Paul Eiding, the voice of Metal Gear Solid's Colonel Roy Campbell, has spoken out about the use of his vocal talents without permission, including by AI.
Eiding, who also voices characters in the Fallout series and Shin Megami Tensei 5, to name but a few, said that if someone does not have written permission to use his voice, then they "DO NOT HAVE PERMISSION". This, the actor stated, included any AI voice lines generated using his voice data.
"Doing so is a violation of my legal rights and a real slap in the face," Eiding wrote.
Eiding's comments come after fellow Metal Gear actor David Hayter also expressed his disdain for AI technology.
"Anybody who steals your voice should be locked up for forever," the Solid Snake actor told Eurogamer, adding that AI voice acting will always be soulless by comparison.
"If you think you're going to get the thousands of subtle, emotional adjustments that [fellow voice actor] Jennifer Hale is going to give you word for word, you're fooling yourself," he said.
"Yes, legally, we should all be protected against these idiots trying to repurpose our voices for free, or our voices or images or writing, what have you. But technologically, I'm not terribly concerned, I think it'll always be soulless."
It is not just the Metal Gear Solid cast standing up against the illegal use of actors' voices.
Erica Lindbeck, who voices characters such as Black Cat (Felicia Hardy) in Marvel's Spider-Man and Cassie Cage in Mortal Kombat 11, has left Twitter following an online dispute with a content creator that used her voice in an AI-generated video.
As reported by TheGamer, Lindbeck's voice was used in an AI-generated cover of Welcome to the Internet by Bo Burnham. The video showed the song being sung by Lindbeck's Persona character, Futaba Sakura.
In reaction to this video, Lindbeck asked her followers to report any similar videos they see online.
In return, the AI creator accused Lindbeck of inciting a "harassing campaign" over a "dumb but harmless Futaba AI cover video".
While it has not been specified precisely why, the creator of this AI video has now seen their Twitter account suspended for violating the platform's media policy.
For more on AI, be sure to check out Ed's interview with other prolific voice actors such as Jane Perry and Troy Baker, where they discuss their scepticism of whether AI can truly replicate human performances and what its impact could be on the voice acting industry.