We recently covered Sony’s controversial decision to experiment with AI in future games, starting with Aloy from their Horizon franchise.

The new AI-based model of Aloy from the Horizon franchise is being made to answer questions from players. While Sony has since denied they’re actively using this AI in future games, the voice actress of Aloy felt compelled to speak out.

Ashly Burch, the voice actress of Aloy in Horizon Zero Dawn, has posted a short video of her addressing Sony’s experiments with AI. Naturally, as the voice actress, Ashly Burch would not want the AI to take her job or the jobs of other voice performers.

“Let’s talk about AI Aloy. I saw the tech demo earlier this week. Guerilla reached out to me to let me know that the demo didn’t reflect anything that was actively in development,” Burch said. “They didn’t use any of my performance for the demo, so none of my facial or voice data. And Guerilla owns Aloy as a character.”

She added, “So all that said, I feel worried. And not worried about Guerilla specifically or Horizon or my performance or my career specifically, even. I feel worried about this art form. Game performance as an art form.”

This is also a concern for digital artists who fear that generative AI images are lowering their commission rates. Ashly Burch expressed concern about the direction big companies are taking with AI, calling it a threat to the arts. 

While these fears are certainly founded in many cases, it should be noted there are millions of clients who are strongly opposed to AI usage in the arts.

This means that non-AI artists aren’t going to be completely replaced – even if some are having financial troubles due to a decline in sales. Also, interest in AI images has declined significantly from its peak in 2023, which means that as the novelty wears off, non-AI artists are making a comeback.