Victoria Atkin (Evie Frye, Assassin's Creed Syndicate): Modders used AI to steal my voice

[modiz]

Important Update: I have misinterpreted the story in the tweet, my apologies. Thanks Crossing Eden for linking the update:

Update on this story, the tweet in the OP was about a person who created an AI voice mod for skyrim. Ubisoft got the mod taken down when they were made aware of it.

https://www.axios.com/2023/07/24/ai-voice-actors-victoria-atkin-assassins-creed

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Original Post, Now Outdated as it was wrong:
This tweet was shared to me elsewhere and is pretty disgusting to see happen. WIth the strikes in Hollywood now, it seems that some studios in gaming are also trying to utilize AI to replace actors for gaming. On this specitic case the tweet is slightly vague so some measure of caution should be kept on context, but I guess its implied the character is meant to reappear in the future, but instead of hearing real recorded acting, you will get an imitation generated by AI.

Also if this keeps on happening, dont be surprised if the strikes turn to game developers as well, so spreading awareness to the community ahead of time could help for your own personal enjoyment of games as well, there's no reason to ignore this.


View: https://twitter.com/VictoriaAtkin/status/1680070771891388417?t=ycx_UIY6vMfBL6BXTEKcXA&s=19

 

[ket]

Trash company, trash industry when it comes to VA work

 

[Harpoon]

Oh for fuck's sake

 

[Deleted member 67800]

Justice pour Victoria!

 

[itsumokid]

Absolutely disgusting. So sick of these companies abusing the actual artists. Thanks for sharing, modiz.

 

[Starlatine]

"but if it was an AI of Evie then it would be okay"

 

[Chumunga64]

booo, hate this AI shit. it's trash

 

[AshenOne]

No wonder these A.C. games now a days feel like husks of their former selves when it comes to characters and their voices.. I bet they've been using this 'tech' for quite a while..

 

[SirKai]

I'm very curious what role she's talking about. Maybe Evie is going to appear in some AC spin off or mobile game? Or has a cameo in something?

Also, Syndicate came out in fucking 2015. It's mortifying to imagine even then there might have been something in her contract that would allow Ubisoft to legally allow her voice to be trained on something like AI (though I imagine the contract would have been extremely vague). If they're using Evie of all characters, I can only imagine other legacy AC lead VAs will come forward about this too.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

I'm very curious what role she's talking about. Maybe Evie is going to appear in some AC spin off or mobile game? Or has a cameo in something?

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Yeah, it's a little too vague to truly know what she means, but Ubisoft is absolutely the kind of company that would try to get around bringing a previous actor back for a new game by trying to clone their previous performance.

 

[Starlatine]

I'm very curious what role she's talking about. Maybe Evie is going to appear in some AC spin off or mobile game? Or has a cameo in something?

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maybe the ac infinity thingy? sounded like it would be full of references and cameos from past characters

 

[vixolus]

I'm very curious what role she's talking about. Maybe Evie is going to appear in some AC spin off or mobile game? Or has a cameo in something?

Also, Syndicate came out in fucking 2015. It's mortifying to imagine even then there might have been something in her contract that would allow Ubisoft to legally allow her voice to be trained on something like AI (though I imagine the contract would have been extremely vague). If they're using Evie of all characters, I can only imagine other legacy AC lead VAs will come forward about this too.

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probably the AC Nexus whatever thing they're working on. The metaverse AC thing

 

[TheKupoxBooper]

This thread title is kinda misleading, It makes it sounds like her voice performance in Assassin's Creed Syndicate was AI utilized when she infact voiced for the role. I'm thinking she's talking about another project that utilizes her Evie voice via AI somewhere else.

 

[Slatsunus]

Is she talking about an actual project by Ubisoft or is she referring to all the dipshits using Elevenlabs to steal actors voices for dumb YT videos?

 

[Crossing Eden]

AC Syndicate came out eight years ago, long before the AI stuff took off. So this may be related to that rumored AC game where for some reason characters from different time periods are interacting, and if that's the case, they should fuck off and pay the people who gave their characters their iconic voices to keep providing those voices if they're gonna bring those characters back.

No wonder these A.C. games now a days feel like husks of their former selves when it comes to characters and their voices.. I bet they've been using this 'tech' for quite a while..

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No? The last 3 AC games had banger VAs. Plenty of whom who were native to the region.

 

[IIFloodyII]

It's all fucked, probably only a matter of time before the strike hits gaming too. Especially when some of Hollywood shitheads big plans are stuff thst games are already doing with more characters looking like their actual VA, is anything stopping them just using them without permission, as they own the character.

 

[modiz]

This thread title is kinda misleading, It makes it sounds like her voice performance in Assassin's Creed Syndicate was AI utilized when she infact voiced for the role. I'm thinking she's talking about another project that utilizes her Evie voice via AI somewhere else.

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Sorry, i didnt mean for that but i can see how it could be misread. Ill report the title.

Is she talking about an actual project by Ubisoft or is she referring to all the dipshits using Elevenlabs to steal actors voices for dumb YT videos?

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In the quoted tweet she is criticizing Ubisoft for lack of royalties and she is tagging Ubisoft in the new tweet, so I assume it is meant to criticize Ubisoft. She would also not have to be so vague if it was internet randos as opposed to the company she signed the contract for.

 

[KezayJS1]

Also, do gaming contracts allow for residuals? I feel like question came up during the whole Bayonetta 3 debacle

 

[PlanetSmasher]

Also, do gaming contracts allow for residuals? I feel like question came up during the whole Bayonetta 3 debacle

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That's a complicated question and the answer is "probably not as much/as often as they should". A lot of VA contracts don't have residuals, but sometimes (I imagine mostly for larger actors with good agents) they can.

 

[Yuntu]

Also, do gaming contracts allow for residuals? I feel like question came up during the whole Bayonetta 3 debacle

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There is nothing hindering game companies from doing residuals. They just arent because thats how it is essentially. Though I think there are some rare cases where they do it (cant think of any examples of the top of my head, but I distinctly remember reading that somewhere).

 

[Slatsunus]

Sorry, i didnt mean for that but i can see how it could be misread. Ill report the title.

In the quoted tweet she is criticizing Ubisoft for lack of royalties and she is tagging Ubisoft in the new tweet, so I assume it is meant to criticize Ubisoft. She would also not have to be so vague if it was internet randos as opposed to the company she signed the contract for.

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Maybe, but she could also be criticizing them for not protecting there actors voices from AI to.

Its to vague. I wanna know exactly what she is talking about

 

[Dyle]

Without more info, I'd have to assume this is just for internal in-development use, as an alternative to having devs voice lines while the game is being worked on. I doubt any contract for a game that old would allow for that and it wouldn't make sense for a company of Ubisoft's size to attempt to save a small amount of money knowing that there would be a high risk of it blowing up in their face.

 

[KezayJS1]

There is nothing hindering game companies from doing residuals. They just arent because thats how it is essentially. Though I think there are some rare cases where they do it (cant think of any examples of the top of my head, but I distinctly remember reading that somewhere).

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I only ask because the portion of the tweet referencing that she hasn't seen any I can't tell if she's simply informing this isn't something done in gaming or that there was an expectation she would and she's bringing awareness to the fact that she hasn't. (Though I'd assume there to be actual legal ramifications to that if she signed anything starting as much and UBI aren't paying up)

 

[Crossing Eden]

Also, do gaming contracts allow for residuals? I feel like question came up during the whole Bayonetta 3 debacle

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By my knowledge gaming companies do not do residuals which in this day and age is ridiculous. Lots of VAs have complained about that in particular. A game like GTAV can make 500 million day one and the actors see none of that.

 

[Yuntu]

I only ask because the portion of the tweet referencing that she hasn't seen any I can't tell if she's simply informing this isn't something done in gaming or that there was an expectation she would and she's bringing awareness to the fact that she hasn't. (Though I'd assume there to be actual legal ramifications to that if she signed anything starting as much and UBI aren't paying up)

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Yeah. I think she is mentioning that basically saying she should get residuals and gives the role as an example where she didnt get any.

 

[LossAversion]

Also, do gaming contracts allow for residuals? I feel like question came up during the whole Bayonetta 3 debacle

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Not really. And if they ask for residuals, people will jump on their throats because developers didn't ask first. Including some actors that already "got theirs" but fuck everyone else.

 

[Imran]

No wonder these A.C. games now a days feel like husks of their former selves when it comes to characters and their voices.. I bet they've been using this 'tech' for quite a while..

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Supporting voice actors by claiming that other voice actors are already AI performances, remarkable.

 

[Mesoian]

No wonder these A.C. games now a days feel like husks of their former selves when it comes to characters and their voices.. I bet they've been using this 'tech' for quite a while..

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Imagine saying this after the masterclass Melissanthi Mahut puts on in Odyssey.

Like, I get that you don't like AI, but don't kneejerk into insulting people putting in the work.

 

[The Spoony Hou]

And people will keep buying Ubisoft games.

 

[Scarlett]

No wonder these A.C. games now a days feel like husks of their former selves when it comes to characters and their voices.. I bet they've been using this 'tech' for quite a while..

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Nah.

I've played Mirage in full; that cast put in work.

 

[Sangral]

AI can already, pretty scary crazy 1:1 copy a real voice and it's basically indistinguishable (what was that video we had some months ago? Was that with an Todd Howard AI voice or was that someone else?).

So yeah, it's just a matter of time that this happens for whenever a real voice actor isn't available or whatever and they choose to use this instead.

 

[asd202]

AI is going to fuck up the work market so hard in the next 10-20 years. Shit has to start getting regulated.

 

[AshenOne]

Supporting voice actors by claiming that other voice actors are already AI performances, remarkable.

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Imagine saying this after the masterclass Melissanthi Mahut puts on in Odyssey.

Like, I get that you don't like AI, but don't kneejerk into insulting people putting in the work.

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Its not a kneejerk cause I don't like AI, Personally speaking I do not have anything against AI. You just don't need to abuse it like what the OP describes it as.

I've been watching at least cutscenes from these games and I haven't seen one scene which outdoes the acting in the Ezio trilogy.

Also critiquing or ridiculing characters is much more than just VAs, its how the staff write those characters as well. They really feel soulless for me.

 

[Geode]

Evie Frye has been used in another role? I'm confused. Definitely need more details on this.

 

[Powerofthecloud]

AI can already, pretty scary crazy 1:1 copy a real voice and it's basically indistinguishable (what was that video we had some months ago? Was that with an Todd Howard AI voice or was that someone else?).

So yeah, it's just a matter of time that this happens for whenever a real voice actor isn't available or whatever and they choose to use this instead.

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Is it really 1:1? In Dial of Destiny CGI younger Indiana Jones sounded like older Harrison Ford in a $300M budget film that came out in the last month. Obviously Disney/Lucasfilm has access to the latest tools and years of archive voice. If this was possible wouldn't we have gotten a better sounding younger version of him than current gravelly voice Harrison Ford? I mean it wasnt the visuals that bothered me, it was the voice that was off, IMO. I just really question how good are these tools right now.

 

[Phoenix Down]

Sadly, voice actors may be the first to go with this AI boom going on. In 5 years, we won't need programmers either. This is a scary honestly.

 

[The Unsent]

Underrated performance imo, she was very charming and gracefully bad arse as Evie. Hope they get the pay and opportunities they deserve.

 

[elenarie]

Evie Frye has been used in another role? I'm confused. Definitely need more details on this.

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The way I read this, these are two different tweets and subjects. The first one speaks about no residual payments for voice acting in video games, the second about AI and natural language processing and voice synthesis in general. Not that Ubisoft has used her voice outside of the agreed upon scope for Syndicate without paying her.

At least that's how I read her tweets.

 

[Zem]

Voice acting in videogames is definitely going to go the AI route (there'll be some games already in development looking at it or using it for sure). I fully expect and support strikes from voice actors soon.

 

[False Witness]

Yeah, it doesn't look like she was saying Ubisoft was using AI to take her voice. More like an AI (probably eleven labs) used her work as Evie to be trained on. The lack of residuals thing was the Ubi thing (which goes for most VA roles in games).

 

[logash]

Don't think Ubisoft or any major AAA company has used AI to steal a VA voice as far as I know. While I am not sure the legality of it, I do think studios would need to pay for that much like Disney paid for Darth Vadar.

As far as residuals go, that's been an issue for years so.

 

[Steamy Manatee]

while I can see Ubisoft 100% doing this for random lines for marketing or something small and silly, I am not sure I understand where when or how they used AI for her voice? Post is unclear

 

[bitcloudrzr]

maybe the ac infinity thingy? sounded like it would be full of references and cameos from past characters

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probably the AC Nexus whatever thing they're working on. The metaverse AC thing

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AC Syndicate came out eight years ago, long before the AI stuff took off. So this may be related to that rumored AC game where for some reason characters from different time periods are interacting, and if that's the case, they should fuck off and pay the people who gave their characters their iconic voices to keep providing those voices if they're gonna bring those characters back.

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AC Infinity is not really a game, it is reportedly a hub for their future and past games. That being said if you can interact with characters from past games in the hub then that is probably where they are generating this AI voice, if that is even the case.

 

[Vourlis]

Are the margins really that thin? Can't pay them a few days worth? Garbage.

 

[Fat4all]

AC Infinity is not really a game, it is reportedly a hub for their future and past games. That being said if you can interact with characters from past games in the hub then that is probably where they are generating this AI voice, if that is even the case.

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this was my line of thinking as well, that they would either re-use lines from older games or train AI models based off those recordings for new lines in the hub, whatever it ends up being

 

[Jibbajabbawockky]

I feel like people need to really clarify what they deem "AI" in a lot of these claims because I feel like "AI" is just being used as a catch all for any tech related thing that hurts workers/writers/actors here. And granted, I think that's what this strike is in part about- clarifying the rules for using these sorts of technologies and the rights of the people lending their voice/likeness/writing to these companies for a given project and not necessarily in perpetuity.

Without more info, I'd have to assume this is just for internal in-development use, as an alternative to having devs voice lines while the game is being worked on. I doubt any contract for a game that old would allow for that and it wouldn't make sense for a company of Ubisoft's size to attempt to save a small amount of money knowing that there would be a high risk of it blowing up in their face.

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Yeah, I'm pretty sure studios like BioWare or Obsidian use that kind of text to speech programs to basically have placeholder VO in theri dialogue heavy games while they're in development. Pretty sure I remember seeing was video/documentary on it for some recent Obsidian game, maybe Outer Worlds?
Edit: Yup this is the video from 2 years ago on Outer Worlds voice AI stuff.

 

[Fat4all]

Are the margins really that thin? Can't pay them a few days worth? Garbage.

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with capitalism the margins are nothing more than an excuse

any bit of blood that can be squeezed from the stone feeds back into the machine

 

[Sems4arsenal]

Subscription services, streaming, acquisitions and now this. This industry never learns anything from others

 

[gundamkyoukai]

By my knowledge gaming companies do not do residuals which in this day and age is ridiculous. Lots of VAs have complained about that in particular. A game like GTAV can make 500 million day one and the actors see none of that.

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In this day and age it make more sense they not get residuals since hollywood trying move way from that .
This seem to be one thing gaming ahead of hollywood that they would love to have also .
Which just show all these industries trying to fuck over people .

 

[ezekial45]

I'm reminded of the actor behind Nico Bellic who got blackballed after asking about residuals for GTA4.