A new documentary about Anthony Bourdain has sparked a debate over its use of artificial intelligence to stitch together voiced quotes by the late cel

Anthony Bourdain documentary sparks backlash for using AI to fake voice

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2021-07-16 19:30:05

A new documentary about Anthony Bourdain has sparked a debate over its use of artificial intelligence to stitch together voiced quotes by the late celebrity chef and effectively bring his voice back to life.

Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, directed by Morgan Neville, takes an intimate look into the life and death of Bourdain, including his global fame, career and pursuit of happiness.

In a recent interview with the New Yorker, Neville revealed that he used AI to synthetically create a voiceover reading of an email by Bourdain himself.

There were a total of three lines of dialogue that Neville wanted Bourdain to narrate, the film-maker explained in his interview. However, because he was unable to find previous audio, he contacted a software company instead and provided about a dozen hours of recordings, in turn creating an AI model of Bourdain’s voice.

In the movie there is a scene about an email sent by Bourdain to his friend, the artist David Choe. Bourdain writes, and viewers hear his voice read aloud: “My life is sort of shit now. You are successful, and I am successful, and I’m wondering: Are you happy?” But the voice was in fact created by AI.