Voice of a Deceased Actor Recreated in Cyberpunk 2077 Thanks to AI
CD Projekt RED has used artificial intelligence to „recreate” the voice of one of the key characters in the Polish version of Cyberpunk 2077, previously played by a prominent Polish voice actor.
The Phantom Liberty expansion for Cyberpunk 2077 has been warmly received by players. This should not come as a surprise - as it is clear that CD Projekt RED has put a lot of work into this work. It turns out that the developers' approach to a certain issue was unusual, perhaps a bit controversial, but still fully understandable. It concerns the use of artificial intelligence to recreate the voice used, in the Polish version, by the character the friendly ripperdoc Victor Vektor.
Artificial intelligence used in Phantom of Liberty
Victor Vektor is a very charismatic character. In the Polish version of Cyberpunk 2077 he was voiced by Milogost Reczek. The outstanding actor spent the last three years of his life suffering from multiple myeloma, a cancer of the hematopoietic system. The artist died on December 14, 2021 at the age of 60.
It turns out that while working on Phantom Liberty CD Projekt RED hired another actor, Janusz Zadura, to record Victor Vector's new dialogue lines, and then used the artificial intelligence called Respeecher, to change the timbre of his voice to that characteristic of Milogost Reczek.
Before that, of course, the devs asked permission from the actor's family, and as you can guess, they got it. The fact that we learn about it only now, can testify to the fact that the Polish studio did a good job and it is hard to notice the difference between the real voice and the one generated by artificial intelligence.
It's hardly surprising that CD Projekt RED decided to rely on AI to "preserve" Milogost Reczek's voice, since according to many fans, as well as Mikolaj Szwed, director of the game's Polish localization, he was one of the best Polish voice actors.
The use of artificial intelligence to "recreate" the voice of actors is associated with considerable controversy and opposition on the part of dubbing artists. Recently, there was a high-profile situation when SAG-AFTRA, an organization of voice actors, announced the possibility of a strike that could bring work on some games to a halt. In addition to a pay raise, the actors are demanding protection from artificial intelligence, that is, guarantees that they will not be replaced by the technology.
