People say that this is more ethical than using AI. If this is really possible it may be hard to do?
Erm… fictional characters get voiced by voice actors who get paid for the work they do, and using AI to recreate their own unique voice that they themselves created would steal their job.
I believe this is called an “impression”.
You’ve never heard of people doing impressions before?
I didn’t know that this is somewhat common…
So it is not hard to imitate a voice?
Most people aren’t very good at it, but there are plenty of people who practice and get quite good at doing it.
Most people, at least with a little practice, can imitate SOMEONE. But voice actors tend to be pretty skilled and make it look easier than it is.
We were performing arts geeks, but my group in high school sat around doing king of the hill imitations one month. Whoever did the best “Dangit Bobby!” didn’t have to buy coffee. It’s something anyone can learn, but it takes work to get good at.
It’s possible and pretty common in the Voice Acting industry. Many characters have outlived their VAs such as Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Winnie the Pooh, Kermit the Frog, etc.
Subsequent VAs do impressions of the original voice. Largely these impressions are exceedingly close to the original voice and people hardly notice the change
