You know, Horizon (and only about thousands of similar cautionary tales) tried to tell us. A series about the consequences of corporate greed and unchecked technology leading to the destruction of civilization? Noooo. Nothing topical about that at all! But, anyway, we’re here to talk about Sony’s Aloy AI video and one such Aloy herself: Ashly Burch!
So, by now, most of us know about that, uh… interesting Sony-produced AI video featuring a totally not creepy and weird Aloy. Fans reacted, developers reacted, and Burch, the voice actress behind Aloy, posted an impassioned video across her social media pages. In it, she emphasizes the importance of artistic integrity and human talent behind any one project.
I’m not going to do the cheeky journalist thing and quote her beneath a clip you can actively click on and listen to. But, I will quote a solid comment decrying the usage of AI that strips the humanity out of art! “AI should be a help for the things we don’t want to do… not a replacement for the things we love to do… acting, voices, paintings…. I am so fed up with this,” one commenter stated. Honestly, that’s as objectively “correct” a statement as it can possibly be!
what do we want? not rampant, unchecked ai, that’s for sure
It would be easy to solely dunk on Sony for having the audacity. But, really, it’s the same song and dance. AI could have many useful functions that help people accomplish their day-to-day tasks. Instead, we as a society seem to think that it’s people who are the inconvenience. In this specific case, though, the video is extremely unfortunate for the talented Guerrilla Games team.
Because the public indignation that should be shifted elsewhere regarding the usage of AI here will likely fall on the developers. Who have absolutely no input on such decisions. But, Burch articulated the ongoing creative struggles against AI perfectly! Plus, she intimately understands what that looks like from the creator side of the coin anyway. Ultimately, that means more than the opinion of any one goober on the internet (present company included).
The post Sony’s AI Aloy Tech Demo Caused a Meaningful Response From Voice Actress Ashly Burch About Respecting the People Behind Games appeared first on VICE.
