Recently, on the social media website BlueSky, a user accused Ancient's newly released title Earthion of taking advantage of generative AI for the voices in the game, prompting concerns to spread among fans of the studio who disagree with the use of the controversial technology.
This has led Yuzo Koshiro to come out and debunk this allegation, claiming "no generative AI was used in Earthion's final version", despite the rumour which has been shared online.
The cause of this initial allegation seems to have stemmed from a user finding a small number of tweets that Koshiro posted on Twitter/X last year, in which he stated he had experimented with an "AI vocal synthesiser" to make temporary voices for the game's prototype. However, as Koshiro, this tool wasn't a generative AI tool like ChatGPT or Midjourney, but instead a fairly common vocal production tool called Synthesizer V.
Koshiro explains, "Synthesizer V uses AI vocal synthesis, but it’s not generative AI like ChatGPT or Midjourney. It creates voice from written input using licensed voice models, with full consent from the voice providers."
What this means is no stolen material was used in the creation in the game.
In addition to this, as Koshiro went on to explain, these recordings were also not used in the finished game, with Ancient eventually hiring human voice actors to replace the temporary audio, which also means no one ended up losing out on potential job opportunities.
"While we did use Synthesizer V in the prototype stage for placeholder voices," he states, "All of those lines were replaced by real human voice actors in the final release of Earthion. So to be absolutely clear: no generative AI was used in Earthion’s final version, and we fully respect the work of human artists and voice talent."