the voice actors were paid to create the text-to-speech system, yes. that was why they were hired in the first place.
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Goodeye8@piefed.social 2 days agoDo you know the specifics of their contracts with the VA-s? Are you certain they’re not paying the VA-s for using their voice (even if it is AI generated)? What is the ethical dilemma if VA-s are getting paid whenever a new voiceline is created?
_cryptagion@anarchist.nexus 2 days ago
Goodeye8@piefed.social 2 days ago
But are they also getting paid after the fact? Let’s say $50 any time a new voiceline is added to the game using their voice. Because Embark is using a tool to do the work someone would’ve done manually, they would’ve had to pay the person otherwise so I think a royalty-like payment any time the VA voice is used is completely fair. Otherwise it becomes what people are complaining about, that they’re effectively paying a one time fee for the VA voice and then use it for free for forever.
_cryptagion@anarchist.nexus 2 days ago
they’re effectively paying a one time fee for the VA voice and then use it for free for forever.
yes, that’s what they agreed to and were paid for. and that’s perfectly fine, they weren’t duped and had no issues with it, so even the flimsy moral outrage people come up with over supposed rights to things they create doesn’t apply.
Goodeye8@piefed.social 2 days ago
Call me crazy but I think people getting cheated out of the fruits of their labor, even if they themselves might’ve signed their it away, should be criticized.
Chef6652@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Marketing this as “text-to-speech” is oversimplyfying at best, dishonest at worst imho. People need to work, we can’t blame the voice actors. But in the end they still are working against themselves/their peers.
_cryptagion@anarchist.nexus 2 days ago
Marketing this as “text-to-speech” is oversimplyfying at best, dishonest at worst imho.
it is literally a text-to-speech system. saying otherwise is just ignorant.
Chef6652@lemmy.world 2 days ago
TTS has existed for decades, machine learning for less than 20 years, genAI as we know it for less than 5.
Those 3 things are not the same thing. Yes the genAI they used can be included as a TTS because it is one. But only in function.
You are playing on words here. Most people know TTS as a crappy old thing, here this is something way more advanced.
Even if it was the same thing to begin with. I wouldn’t be like a company using a simple TTS capable of recreating the voice of a voice actor I like without paying them the same as if the company hired them.
Chef6652@lemmy.world 2 days ago
I don’t know the details. And I agree that if every line generated with their voice is paid (at least partially) I don’t see as big of a problem as I stated.
But call me cynical: I don’t think they were paid for generated voice lines. I would gladly be corrected on this matter though.
Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 days ago
That was the case with The Finals (Embark’s previous game) according to testimony by the team, and they are using the same development practices here.