The start-up Respeecher has recreated the voice of Darth Vader using an AI. The AI voice already took over the Vader parts in “Obi-Wan Kenobi”.
The English voice of the Star Wars cult figure Darth Vader is artificially generated in newer productions. Ukrainian start-up Respeecher has recreated the iconic voice of Vader narrator James Earl Jones using its own AI algorithm. Jones has told Disney that he no longer wants to dub Vader himself.
Darth Vader voice: Jones as “benevolent godfather”
Jones, 91, has agreed to having his voice impersonated using artificial intelligence, Vanity Fair magazine reported. Jones already acted as a kind of “benevolent godfather” on the “Obi-Wan Kenobi” series, sound editor Matthew Wood told the magazine. Jones was partly responsible for ensuring that the artificial voice worked as desired: like his own voice in 1977 when he spoke Darth Vader for the first time.
Respeecher works with archival footage of Darth Vader to use AI to generate a lifelike voice capable of speaking new dialogue. According to Vanity Fair, when the Russian war of aggression began, employees at the Ukrainian start-up hid and barricaded themselves to continue work on Darth Vader’s voice. Mark Hamill’s voice as Luke Skywalker also rejuvenated Respeecher for The Book of Boba Fett.
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