The advance of AI in all areas seems unstoppable - but sometimes it becomes apparent that it doesn&t deliver on its promise. For instance, Amazon Prime Video recently started to dub some anime series such as "Vinland Saga," "Banana Fish," and "No Game No Life: Zero" into English and Spanish using AI, but it quickly became clear that the generated voices were terribly bad.
Anime Banana Fish
The AI voices sound emotionless and therefore mostly don&t match the action shown on screen. Some dubs, like the following from the anime "Banana Fish," appear almost satirical:
Amazon had also announced the AI dubbing as a way to give English voices to lesser-known anime series that would otherwise not be dubbed by professional voice actors—a prerequisite for many viewers to watch them, as subtitles are rather unusual in the USA, meaning the original Japanese version with subtitles would hardly be watched. On the other hand, Amazon&s arguments for AI synchronization also didn&t seem entirely truthful, as series for which English voices already existed were also dubbed using AI.
The fact that actors/speakers are being replaced by AI has also caused considerable controversy, not least from the voice actors themselves, but also from fans. Apparently in reaction to the criticism, Amazon Prime Video has deactivated some of the AI voiceovers, though not all. Amazon seems to have lacked internal quality control to avoid the negative PR and thus not release bad dubbings in the first place. This is probably the lesson learned from the debacle—AI should only be used—whether for dubbing or in other fields such as mere research—if the result is also professionally reviewed.
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