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Straits Times
30-07-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Voice actors push back as AI threatens dubbing industry
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: A microphone is seen at a recording studio in Vienna, Austria, April 6, 2018. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader/File Photo PARIS/BERLIN - Boris Rehlinger may not turn heads on the streets of Paris, but his voice is instantly recognisable to millions of French filmgoers. As the French voice of Ben Affleck, Joaquin Phoenix, and even Puss in Boots, Rehlinger is a star behind the scenes — and now he is fighting to keep his craft alive in the age of AI. "I feel threatened even though my voice hasn't been replaced by AI yet," the actor, who is part of a French initiative, TouchePasMaVF, to protect human-created dubbing from artificial intelligence, told Reuters. He said there was a team of professionals, including actors, translators, production directors, dialogue adapters and sound engineers, to ensure audiences barely notice that the actor on screen is speaking a different language than they hear. The rise of global streaming platforms such as Netflix, which relies heavily on dubbing to make global hits such as "Squid Game" and "Lupin", has amplified demand. Consumer research firm GWI says 43% of viewers in Germany, France, Italy and Britain prefer dubbed content over subtitles. The market is expected to grow to $4.3 billion in 2025, reaching $7.6 billion by 2033, according to Business Research Insights. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. 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But as AI-generated voices become more sophisticated and cost-effective, voice actor industry associations across Europe are calling on the EU to tighten regulations to protect quality, jobs and artists' back catalogues from being used to create future dubbed work. "We need legislation: Just as after the car, which replaced the horse-drawn carriage, we need a highway code," Rehlinger said. Worries over technology in the movie industry and whether it will replace the work of humans are not new. AI has been a flashpoint in Hollywood since the labour unrest of 2023, which resulted in new guidelines for the use of the technology. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said this month that the company used generative AI to produce visual effects for the first time on screen in the original series "El Eternauta (The Eternaut)". It has also tested GenAI to synchronise actors' lip movements with dubbed dialogue to improve the viewing experience, according to three sources familiar with the work. These experiments rely on local voice actors to deliver the lines, rather than use AI to synthetically translate the on-screen performer's voice into another language. Such a use of AI for dubbing is permitted under the new SAG-AFTRA actors' union contract, which covers voice-over dubbing from foreign languages into English. It also requires that the actor rendering the dubbing service be paid. Netflix declined to comment on its use of AI in dubbing when asked by Reuters. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Such test-runs by an industry giant will do little to allay the fears of dubbing actors. In Germany, 12 well-known dubbing actors went viral on TikTok in March, garnering 8.7 million views, for their campaign saying "Let's protect artistic, not artificial, intelligence". A petition from the VDS voice actors' association calling on German and EU lawmakers to push AI companies to obtain explicit consent when training the technology on artists' voices and fairly compensate them, as well as transparently label AI-generated content, gained more than 75,500 signatures. When intellectual property is no longer protected, no one will produce anything anymore "because they think 'tomorrow it will be stolen from me anyway'," said Cedric Cavatore, a VDS member who has dubbed films and video games including the PlayStation game "Final Fantasy VII Remake". VDS collaborates with United Voice Artists, a global network of over 20,000 voice actors advocating for ethical AI use and fair contracts. In the United States, Hollywood video game voice and motion capture actors this month signed a new contract with video game studios focused on AI that SAG-AFTRA said represented important progress on protections against the tech. STUDIOS EXPERIMENT Some studios are already cautiously exploring AI. Eberhard Weckerle, managing director of the Neue Tonfilm Muenchen studio, hopes AI and human dubbing can one day coexist. "The fear is that AI will be used to make something as cheap as possible and then people will say, 'Okay, I'll accept that I'll have poorer quality'. And that would actually be the worst thing that could happen to us," said the sound engineer whose studio worked on the German version of "Conclave" and is currently dubbing Guy Ritchie's new film. Earlier this year, the German-dubbed version of streaming service Viaplay's Polish crime series "Murderesses" was removed after criticism from viewers about the monotony of its AI-generated dialogue. The streamer had decided to look into alternative dubbing options due to how prohibitively expensive going through the traditional channels can be in Germany. The hybrid dubbing, created with Israeli startup DeepDub, used a mix of human and AI voices. DeepDub did not respond to an emailed request for comment. "We'll continue offering subtitles and reserve dubbing for select content," said Vanda Rapti, the executive vice president of ViaPlay Group, ViaPlay Select & Content distribution. Despite the disquiet over that series, other potential viewers seem more sanguine. According to GWI, nearly half of viewers said their opinion would not change if they learned that the content they liked was generated by AI. Some 25% said they would like it slightly less, and only 3% said they would like it much more. 'INTEREST IS HUGE' Stefan Sporn, CEO of Audio Innovation Lab, which used AI to dub the Cannes Film Festival entry "Black Dog" from Chinese to German, believes AI will reshape, but not replace, voice work. Humans will always be needed for emotion, scripting, and language nuance, he said, "just not to the same extent". Audio Innovation Lab's technology alters the original actor's voice to match the target language, aiming for authenticity and efficiency. "Interest is huge," said Sporn, adding that producers, studios and advertisers all want to know how well it works. Another startup, Flawless AI, bills itself as an ethical AI company that works with local voice actors and uses its technology to match the on-screen actor's lip movements to the different languages. "When AI technologies are used in the right way, they are a silver bullet to change how we can film-make in a new way," co-CEO Scott Mann said. REUTERS
Toronto Sun
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Toronto Sun
German prosecutors indict alleged helper in plot to attack Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna
Published Jun 27, 2025 • 1 minute read A police officer is decorated with Taylor Swift bracelets while guarding the city centre in Vienna on Aug. 8, 2024. Photo by Heinz-Peter Bader / AP BERLIN — German prosecutors on Friday announced charges against a suspect accused of supporting a foiled plot last year to attack Taylor Swift concerts in neighbouring Austria. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Three Swift concerts in Vienna were cancelled in early August when the plot was discovered, and Austrian authorities made three arrests. The indictment in Germany against a young Syrian national, identified only as Mohammad A. in line with German privacy rules, was filed at a Berlin court earlier this month. Federal prosecutors said in a statement that he is accused of supporting a foreign terrorist organization and preparing a serious act of violence. Prosecutors said that the suspect supported the ideology of the Islamic State group and that, between mid-July and August last year, he was in contact with a young man in Austria who planned to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna. He allegedly helped by translating bomb-building instructions from Arabic and organizing online contact with an IS member abroad, among other things. The suspect also allegedly gave his acquaintance in Austria the text for an oath of allegiance to IS, which the latter used to join the group. He is not in custody, prosecutors said. The court must now decide whether to bring the case to trial and when. Read More Toronto Raptors Sunshine Girls Canada Celebrity Music
Glasgow Times
11-06-2025
- Glasgow Times
Austria falls silent as questions remain about motive for deadly school shooting
The man's motive remained unclear. Austria has declared three days of national mourning following what appears to be the deadliest attack in its post-Second World War history. At 10am on Wednesday, marking the moment a day earlier when police were alerted to shots at the Borg Dreierschutzengasse high school, the country stopped for a minute of silence. Hundreds of people lined the central square in Graz, Austria's second-biggest city. A police officer in front of a school building after a shooting in Graz (Heinz-Peter Bader/AP) Some laid more candles and flowers in front of the city hall, adding to a growing memorial to the victims. The first candles were laid on Tuesday evening as a crowd gathered on the square, some people hugging each other as they tried to come to terms with the tragedy. Hundreds of people joined Austrian officials at a service on Tuesday evening in the Graz cathedral. Among those on the square Wednesday was Chiara Komlenic, a 28-year-old art history student who finished her exams at the school there. 'I always felt very protected there. The teachers were also very supportive,' she said. 'I made lifelong friendships there. It just hurts to see that young girls and boys will never come back, that they experienced the worst day of their lives where I had the best time of my life. I still know a few teachers, it just hurts a lot.' In the capital, Vienna, the local transport authority had trams, subway trains and buses stop for a minute. Police said they found a farewell letter and a non-functional pipe bomb when they searched the home of the assailant. The 21-year-old Austrian man lived near Graz and was a former student at the school who had not completed his studies. Police have said that he used two weapons, a shotgun and a handgun, which he appeared to have owned legally. Police did not elaborate on investigators' findings in a brief post on social network X. But a senior official who acknowledged that the letter had been found on Tuesday night said it had not allowed them to draw conclusions. 'A farewell letter in analogue and digital form was found,' Franz Ruf, the public security director at Austria's Interior Ministry, told ORF public television. 'He says goodbye to his parents. But no motive can be inferred from the farewell letter, and that is a matter for further investigations.' Asked whether the assailant had attacked victims randomly or targeted them specifically, Mr Ruf said that is also under investigation and he didn't want to speculate. He said that wounded people were found on various levels of the school and, in one case, in front of the building. By Wednesday morning, the authority that runs hospitals in Graz said that all patients were in stable condition. Nine were still in intensive care units, with one needing a further operation on a facial wound and a second on a knee injury, while another two had been moved to regular wards. 'Graz is the second-largest city in Austria, but we still say that Graz is a village,' said Fabian Enzi, a university student among those on the main square of the city of about 300,000 people on Wednesday. 'Every time you are out you meet people you know. There is a high chance that with such an attack you know people which are affected,' the 22-year-old said. 'There are a lot of desperate faces.'
Irish Examiner
11-06-2025
- Irish Examiner
Austria falls silent as questions remain about motive for deadly school shooting
Austria fell silent for a minute on Wednesday in memory of the 10 people killed in a school shooting in Graz, which ended with the gunman taking his own life. The man's motive remained unclear. Austria has declared three days of national mourning following what appears to be the deadliest attack in its post-Second World War history. At 10am on Wednesday, marking the moment a day earlier when police were alerted to shots at the Borg Dreierschutzengasse high school, the country stopped for a minute of silence. Hundreds of people lined the central square in Graz, Austria's second-biggest city. A police officer in front of a school building after a shooting in Graz (Heinz-Peter Bader/AP) Some laid more candles and flowers in front of the city hall, adding to a growing memorial to the victims. The first candles were laid on Tuesday evening as a crowd gathered on the square, some people hugging each other as they tried to come to terms with the tragedy. Hundreds of people joined Austrian officials at a service on Tuesday evening in the Graz cathedral. Among those on the square Wednesday was Chiara Komlenic, a 28-year-old art history student who finished her exams at the school there. 'I always felt very protected there. The teachers were also very supportive,' she said. 'I made lifelong friendships there. It just hurts to see that young girls and boys will never come back, that they experienced the worst day of their lives where I had the best time of my life. I still know a few teachers, it just hurts a lot.' In the capital, Vienna, the local transport authority had trams, subway trains and buses stop for a minute. Police said they found a farewell letter and a non-functional pipe bomb when they searched the home of the assailant. The 21-year-old Austrian man lived near Graz and was a former student at the school who had not completed his studies. Police have said that he used two weapons, a shotgun and a handgun, which he appeared to have owned legally. Police did not elaborate on investigators' findings in a brief post on social network X. But a senior official who acknowledged that the letter had been found on Tuesday night said it had not allowed them to draw conclusions. 'A farewell letter in analogue and digital form was found,' Franz Ruf, the public security director at Austria's Interior Ministry, told ORF public television. 'He says goodbye to his parents. But no motive can be inferred from the farewell letter, and that is a matter for further investigations.' Asked whether the assailant had attacked victims randomly or targeted them specifically, Mr Ruf said that is also under investigation and he didn't want to speculate. He said that wounded people were found on various levels of the school and, in one case, in front of the building. By Wednesday morning, the authority that runs hospitals in Graz said that all patients were in stable condition. Nine were still in intensive care units, with one needing a further operation on a facial wound and a second on a knee injury, while another two had been moved to regular wards. 'Graz is the second-largest city in Austria, but we still say that Graz is a village,' said Fabian Enzi, a university student among those on the main square of the city of about 300,000 people on Wednesday. 'Every time you are out you meet people you know. There is a high chance that with such an attack you know people which are affected,' the 22-year-old said. 'There are a lot of desperate faces.'
Western Telegraph
11-06-2025
- Western Telegraph
Austria falls silent as questions remain about motive for deadly school shooting
The man's motive remained unclear. Austria has declared three days of national mourning following what appears to be the deadliest attack in its post-Second World War history. At 10am on Wednesday, marking the moment a day earlier when police were alerted to shots at the Borg Dreierschutzengasse high school, the country stopped for a minute of silence. Hundreds of people lined the central square in Graz, Austria's second-biggest city. A police officer in front of a school building after a shooting in Graz (Heinz-Peter Bader/AP) Some laid more candles and flowers in front of the city hall, adding to a growing memorial to the victims. The first candles were laid on Tuesday evening as a crowd gathered on the square, some people hugging each other as they tried to come to terms with the tragedy. Hundreds of people joined Austrian officials at a service on Tuesday evening in the Graz cathedral. Among those on the square Wednesday was Chiara Komlenic, a 28-year-old art history student who finished her exams at the school there. 'I always felt very protected there. The teachers were also very supportive,' she said. 'I made lifelong friendships there. It just hurts to see that young girls and boys will never come back, that they experienced the worst day of their lives where I had the best time of my life. I still know a few teachers, it just hurts a lot.' In the capital, Vienna, the local transport authority had trams, subway trains and buses stop for a minute. Police said they found a farewell letter and a non-functional pipe bomb when they searched the home of the assailant. The 21-year-old Austrian man lived near Graz and was a former student at the school who had not completed his studies. Police have said that he used two weapons, a shotgun and a handgun, which he appeared to have owned legally. Police did not elaborate on investigators' findings in a brief post on social network X. But a senior official who acknowledged that the letter had been found on Tuesday night said it had not allowed them to draw conclusions. 'A farewell letter in analogue and digital form was found,' Franz Ruf, the public security director at Austria's Interior Ministry, told ORF public television. 'He says goodbye to his parents. But no motive can be inferred from the farewell letter, and that is a matter for further investigations.' Asked whether the assailant had attacked victims randomly or targeted them specifically, Mr Ruf said that is also under investigation and he didn't want to speculate. He said that wounded people were found on various levels of the school and, in one case, in front of the building. By Wednesday morning, the authority that runs hospitals in Graz said that all patients were in stable condition. Nine were still in intensive care units, with one needing a further operation on a facial wound and a second on a knee injury, while another two had been moved to regular wards. 'Graz is the second-largest city in Austria, but we still say that Graz is a village,' said Fabian Enzi, a university student among those on the main square of the city of about 300,000 people on Wednesday. 'Every time you are out you meet people you know. There is a high chance that with such an attack you know people which are affected,' the 22-year-old said. 'There are a lot of desperate faces.'
