Clips of Amazon’s AI-generated anime dub began circulating on social media after it was added to Prime Video last month. Labeled as “AI Beta” under Prime Video’s audio language options, the ridiculously terrible AI-generated voices received critical attention and widespread ridicule for their awkward, flat presentation. Many voice actors have criticized Amazon’s AI dubs, with the National Association of Voice Actors (NAVA) releasing a statement calling them “AI slop”.
“I showed the AI clip to my 10 year old banana fish Hanging out online (no way we’ll ever see Prime again),” wrote Kara Edwards, a brilliant American voice actor. “He’s roaming around laughing and enthusiastically chanting ‘No Skipper Noo’. It could be this generation roomit’s so embarrassing,”
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Although it wouldn’t be a good idea to use AI to dub any anime, some people decided to do it banana fish Particularly unpleasant. Originally released in 2018, banana fish is a widely acclaimed work considered influential in LGBTQ+ manga and anime. The 24-episode anime follows the relationship between teen gang leader Ash Links in New York and Japanese photographer’s assistant Eiji Okumura, originally portrayed by prolific Japanese voice actors Yuma Uchida and Kenji Nojima, respectively.
Fans had been expecting this for a long time banana fish Will eventually receive an official English dub. Sadly, it’s not quite what they thought.
“After years fans are expecting an English dub banana fish, You give it to us as AI generated garbage? “This is extremely insulting,” voice actor Damon Mills posted on X. Mills previously worked on the English dub of Amazon. Evangelion Movies. “Was a strange trauma narrative handed over to a machine because it’s too hard to pay real actors? Fix it, or I personally will not work with you as an actor on any of your dubs. This is not the ‘future’. This is erasure.”
,banana fish This is one of the most heartbreaking and romantic stories ever told in anime,” voice actor Jacob Hopkins wrote, sharing a screenshot of his Prime subscription being canceled. “For Amazon to implement AI for the English dub defeats the entire purpose. But of course he doesn’t care about artistic meaning. Boycott Prime. nuff said.”
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Whereas banana fish was the most high-profile victim of Amazon’s AI dub, unfortunately it wasn’t the only anime affected. No Game No Life: Zero And vinland saga English AI dubs were also received, each just as terrible as the last.
Remarkably, in contrast banana fishBoth titles already have official human-voiced English dubs. No Game No Life: Zero Dubbed in English by Sentai Filmworks vinland saga There are actually two: one by Sentai Filmworks and the other by Netflix.
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,no game, no life Voice actor Christina Kelly wrote, “This is the first anime dub I was cast in and @amazon is making fun of it.” “Please don’t support AI.”
“What can any aspiring voice actor expect now?”. Johnny Young Bosch, one of the most famous anime voice actors in America, said, “Amazon has deeper resources and should do better. They’re also doing AI dubbing on titles that already have dubs.”
Other voice actors expressed further concerns with how Amazon prepared its AI dubs.
“Hey, what dub was used to train this dubbing AI?” Posted by Brianna White, best known for voicing Aerith final fantasy vii remake And rebirth“Just curious if the talented actors who were incorporated into said AI without their knowledge or consent will get any credit for their work? Any money for their work? Just curious,”
NAVA wrote, “Human dubbing requires skill, emotion, nuance, understanding and human experience for the audience to connect with and respect.” “These AI dubs show how much skill and practice it really takes to connect through voice performance and how hard it is to clone the human experience.”
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Amazon removed its English AI dub amid this uproar, leaving English-speaking fans to either read subtitles or seek a better, human-made English dub elsewhere.
Still, the matter is far from resolved. Amazon also produced AI dubs in Spanish for these series, which are still available at the time of writing. Voice actors and fans are demanding the removal of these Spanish AI dubs as well and criticizing the removal of the English dubs as only a half measure.
,[G]Voice actor Landon MacDonald wrote, “Issue a statement reaffirming your support for The Humans cast, treating the Spanish language equally and giving these amazing shows the adaptation they deserve.”[ivetheSpanish-languageonethesametreatmentreleasestatementaffirmingyoursupportforHUMANartistsandgivethesewonderfulshowstheadaptationstheydeserve”wrotevoiceactorLandonMcDonald[ivetheSpanish-languageonethesametreatmentreleaseastatementaffirmingyoursupportforHUMANartistsandgivethesewonderfulshowstheadaptationstheydeserve”wrotevoiceactorLandonMcDonald
“This is what every AI dub needs,” Mills wrote. “It’s not just them who are under fire right now.”
This isn’t the first time Amazon has tried its hand at AI-generated dubs. The tech giant initially announced its pilot program for AI-generated dubs in March this year, starting with titles like El Cid: La Leyenda And mi mama loraThe result was equally disappointing,
Amazon is leaning heavily on generative AI this year. Last month it began beta testing AI-generated video recaps for some Prime Video Original series, complete with AI-generated voiceover narration. In May, Amazon launched AI-generated audio summaries of products for sale on its online marketplace.
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