AI has been used for Geralt's polish voice in The Witcher 3: Song of the Past after the actor suffered a stroke
, by Enzo
This is an unusual piece of news we’re reporting here. In an interview with GameFile, the Polish studio CD Projekt revealed that it had worked with AI to modify some of the voice recordings for the main character, Geralt of Rivia, for a very specific reason.
Jacek Rozenek, the iconic voice actor behind the hero’s Polish voice, unfortunately suffered a stroke in 2019 that left him with aphasia. This is an acquired communication disorder that results in the partial or total loss of the ability to speak, understand, read, or write.
Although he resumed his voice acting work in 2022, it required several hours of daily practice. "I was exhausted after that recording session," he said regarding the next-gen update for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt back in 2022.
Realizing that his voice was no longer the same as before, he agreed to let CD Projekt use the services of Respeecher, a company that specializes in AI-based voice processing. The goal is to make his voice as similar as possible to his original performance from 10 years ago.
All of his dialogue was therefore sent to the company. CD Projekt’s localization director, Mikołaj Szwed, acknowledges the ethical concerns surrounding AI.
"I do think this is one of those ways where you can use AI ethically, with consent and also to do something good."
In addition, CD Projekt already worked with Respeecher on Cyberpunk 2077 for the Phantom Liberty expansion. The actor who played one of the characters had passed away in the meantime. AI was therefore used, with the family's consent.
Source: gamefile.news