‘Making a game without actors isn’t an end goal’: THE FINALS devs respond to AI criticisms

THE FINALS open beta has been attracting hundreds of thousands of players since opening its doors on Oct. 26. Even so, the game has faced rampant criticism for its use of AI voices for its announcers, with the developers forced to respond, saying that removing voice actors “isn’t the end goal.”

It was revealed this week Embark Studios’ newest FPS THE FINALS uses AI-generated voices for most of its dialogue. Only those fragments that cannot be appropriately generated, such as grunting, breathing, vaulting, and so on were actually recorded in a studio according to a Spotify interview with the game’s lead audio designers.

Everything else, the designers say, is AI-generated, and it gets the game “far enough in terms of quality”—but many who have gotten their hands on THE FINALS open beta this week disagree.

The use of AI voices in THE FINALS has been met with heavy criticism from laymen and industry veterans alike. Now, the developers have responded, claiming that not everything is AI-generated and that everything they do requires human input.

Embark director of communications Sven Grundberg said the game uses a mix of human and AI voicework in an interview with Axios this week. According to Grundberg, human voicework “adds depth to our game worlds that technology can’t emulate,” but AI allows them to implement voices where it otherwise couldn’t be done.

Implementation, both he and the audio designers argue, takes a long time. The latter also said that, with AI, they could implement voices in hours instead of months and the extra time could be used designing other parts of the game.

Both human and AI voicework require actual people, Grunberg added, and professionals and Embark employees participate in providing voices for THE FINALS.

The subject of AI-generated content has been in the news since the summer following the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike demanding fairer work conditions in the writing and acting industry. One part of their demands was protection against AI, particularly in vocal and facial reconstruction.

Voice actors in gaming also threatened to go on strike, with similar demands related to AI-generated content. The ethical and quality implications are prevalent in the AI discussion, and it isn’t particularly encouraging to see a significant esports title utilize the technology to the fullest.