German dubbing artists voice concerns over threat from AI

German dubbing artists on Tuesday spoke out against the threat to their careers from artificial intelligence (AI), reported dpa.

Dubbing is hugely popular in Germany, with many leading Hollywood actors being voiced in German by the same artist across different films.

In a joint video, a number of leading dubbing artists warned that their jobs are at risk of being replaced by AI voices.

Voice actors such as Anke Reitzenstein, Peter Flechtner and Claudia Urbschat-Mingues, who provide German voices for Melissa McCarthy, Ben Affleck and Angelina Jolie respectively, were among those contributing to the video.

The campaign alleges that AI systems have been illegally trained with the voices of German dubbing stars without their consent.

The artists jointly called out: "Let's protect artistic intelligence and not artificial intelligence."

The Association of German Speakers (VDS) trade group, which organized the video, said "the aim is to raise awareness of the danger of human voices being replaced by AI-generated voices that lack empathy, emotional depth and cultural context."

Calling on the public to support the fight against AI dubbing, the group said "concrete measures must be taken to protect a profession that brings foreign-language characters and stories to life and makes the works accessible to all."

Disputes over AI were a major point of contention during the Hollywood actors' strike in 2023.