It's been three years since we last saw Darth Vader on television. That was in the Disney miniseries Obi-Wan Kenobi, in which the Sith opposed his former mentor. Yet, the character created by George Lucas and voiced by the iconic late James Earl Jones is at the heart of a major controversy. It concerns Fortnite.
Darth Vader in Fortnite, Epic Games didn't expect this
Since May 16, Fortnite has decided to integrate Darth Vader, not through a new skin, but as an NPC with whom it is possible to converse, thanks to a chatbot generated via Gemini, Google's AI.
Epic Games has managed to obtain the agreement of the family of James Earl Jones, the iconic voice of the character in the Star Wars trilogy (who died in 2024), as well as the support of Lucasfilm and Disney so that Generative AI mimics its voice. However, since its integration, players have made it say just about anything and everything. Coarse language, all kinds of slip-ups, the Gemini chatbot has been in high demand. TikTok has subsequently taken over these awkward situations. Epic Games has somehow managed to tighten the screws on its generative AI with a patch to prevent the situation from getting worse.
SAG-AFTRA files complaint against Epic Games
But the case has gone beyond controversy since SAG-AFTRA, the professional union that defends the interests of artists in the film, television, video game, and voice-over industries, has filed a complaint against Epic Games for unfair practice.
In a press release, SAG-AFTRA states: "We must protect our right to negotiate the terms of use of the voice that replaces the work of our members, including those who have previously done the work of reproducing Darth Vader's iconic rhythm and tone in video games." Also, the union emphasizes that Epic Games used AI "without giving any notice of the intention to do so."
Whether in film, television, or video games, generative artificial intelligence is increasingly used, to the detriment of the actors' performances. We think of Ghostwriter, the tool deployed by Ubisoft to write the dialogues of its NPCs, or the credits of the Marvel series Secret Invasion, entirely produced by an AI. Situations that contributed to the massive strike of actors and voice actors in video games in 2023 and 2024, demanding safeguards to protect their work, against the non-consensual reproduction of their voices and faces, while also expressing their desire to benefit from better remuneration.
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