Darth Vader has been voiced by James Earl Jones for over four decades. The legendary actor recently told Disney he was considering winding down the character. The company had to figure out how to replace Jones. The answer Disney came up with was an artificial intelligence program.
The work of Respeecher can be heard in the recent Star Wars shows. A Ukrainian startup uses archival recordings and a proprietary artificial intelligence to create new dialogue that features the voices of performers from long ago. Lucasfilm recreated Jones' voice as it sounded when film audiences first heard it in 1977.
Jones signed off on Disney using recordings of his voice and Respeecher's software to keep Vader alive. Lucasfilm veteran Matthew Wood told the outlet that James guided the Sith Lord's performance in Obi-Wan Kenobi, but it was the artificial intelligence that gave Vader his voice.
Disney's decision to use an artificial intelligence to preserve Vader's voice is likely to add fuel to disagreements over how such technology should be used in creative fields. Artificial intelligence-generated art was recently banned by a company. It's possible we could hear Jones voice Vader after he's gone.
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