{"id":136960,"date":"2025-09-11T20:34:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T20:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/136960\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T20:34:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T20:34:09","slug":"lara-crofts-french-voice-actress-alleges-ai-is-replacing-her","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/136960\/","title":{"rendered":"Lara Croft\u2019s French Voice Actress Alleges AI Is Replacing Her"},"content":{"rendered":"

Another day in the 21st century, another fresh round of frustration and accusations that a company is using artificial intelligence to replace the labor of human beings. This time around, Fran\u00e7oise Cadol, Lara Croft\u2019s French voice actress as heard in the localized version of Tomb Raider IV \u2013 VI, has issued a legal notice to Aspyr Media, which is owned by the Embracer Group<\/a>, over accusations that AI was used to touch up her performances.<\/p>\n

Read More: Borderlands 4 Seems To Include A Direct Jab At Gearbox\u2019s Former Owner Embracer<\/a><\/p>\n

As reported by Game Developer<\/a>, Cadol, an outspoken critic of AI<\/a> and member of the French anti-AI \u201cTouch pas \u00e0 ma VF\u201d movement<\/a>, asserts that the alleged AI use came across her radar in August, following a patch pushed by developer Aspyr to the Tomb Raider collection. These patch notes mention restored voice-overs, tweaks to volume, and other audio adjustments that, ordinarily, wouldn\u2019t raise much concern, especially as the Brazilian Portuguese localization is the only version that the notes specifically mention. However, attentive fans spotted some unusual affectations in Cadol\u2019s recorded performance, bringing the concern to her attention. A video from French YouTuber Kingdom of Stott documents the changes here<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Starting right around 9:56, you can hear the original performance from Cadol, followed by the alleged AI version (the video is in French, so auto-translate captions help here for some of us). Despite failing French a number of times, I can recognize a clear difference in these two performances, as can many fans in the comments of this very video. Is it proof of AI use? Cadol seems to think so, describing the difference as \u201cmetallic\u201d (via Google Translate) to French publication Le Parisien<\/a>. And some recent negative reviews on the game\u2019s Steam page<\/a> are also accusing the developer of pushing AI into the game. Having worked with audio for many years myself, I can think of at least half-a-dozen other things that aren\u2019t AI that could make the audio kinda sorta sound like this, but there\u2019s still an undeniable rigidity that screams AI and, well, look at the times we live in.<\/p>\n

Kotaku has reached out to Aspyr Media for comment.<\/p>\n

The same video also mentions that fans have speculated AI was used in newly added loading screens a bit earlier. I\u2019m more skeptical of that claim, but AI is getting better at hiding its trademark oddities. (Remember when it couldn\u2019t render fingers well?)<\/p>\n

\"Lara\u00a9 Screenshot: Aspyr Media \/ Kingdom of Stott \/ Kotaku <\/p>\n

But this is the wonderfully miserable hell we find ourselves in these days, a perpetual anxiety not just that advanced tech is being used in creative works, but that industries are finding ways to cut out the human talent, the labor, that has built these works and that we come to creative productions to appreciate.<\/p>\n

Anyway, if you want an even fresher dose of our modern hellscape, check out the AI-voiced slop<\/a> that\u2019s reporting on this very AI-themed controversy that I had to sift through before finding an actual human documenting this silliness. Frakin<\/a>\u2019 Clankers.<\/p>\n