One of the most famous voice actors working today, Hank Azaria, has published an op-ed for The New York Times in which he discusses artificial intelligence, including his fears about the technology and his optimism for how it could be used in a positive way.
Azaria–known for voicing The Simpsons characters like Moe, Chief Wiggum, Lenny, Superintendent Chalmers, and Comic Book Guy–said AI-generated voices can have “enough little things askew” to convince people “there’s something missing.” He said it’s similar to how AI-generated faces in video may look believable to a degree but aren’t exactly perfect.
Azaria said when he’s recording lines for The Simpsons, he experiments with a few different things to find what works best. “I’ll do a mad take, a glad take, a sad take, a deadpan take, one that’s aggressive, one that’s really in my feelings. It’s hard to tell which one’s going to work, but you can always tell in editing,” he said.
Azaria said AI might be able to do this, too, and in a “pretty convincing way.” .
“So, if I’m being honest, I am a little worried. This is my job. This is what I love to do, and I don’t want to have to stop doing it. The conventional wisdom in Hollywood is that the technology for making faces seem fully human is five years away. I fear that the voice equivalent is also coming,” he said.
Azaria went on to admit there could be “some upside” if AI continues to proliferate. He said he’s a big fan of the original Bugs Bunny voice actor, Mel Blanc, and AI technology could bring him back to life in new ways. Azaria also noted that he, being deeply familiar with Blanc and Bugs Bunny the character, could assist in any new production by directing the AI with a human touch.
Like others before him, Azaria said he sees a future where humans and AI work together. “I think we’ll still need someone who in his mind and heart and soul knows what needs to be done. AI can make the sound, but it will still need people to make the performance,” he said. “Will the computer ever understand emotion on its own, what’s moving and what’s funny? Now we’re getting into science fiction, because for that, I think, the AI would have to be alive.”
“It makes me sad to think about it. Not to mention, it seems just plain wrong to steal my likeness or sound–or anyone else’s” — Hank Azaria
For now, though, if AI was used to create one of Azaria’s many voice roles, the “lack of humanness” might be enough to be noticeable to a viewer.
“It adds up to a sense that what we’re watching isn’t real, and you don’t need to pay attention to it. Believability is earned through craftsmanship, with good storytelling and good performances, good cinematography, and good directing and a good script and good music,” Azaria explained.
Azaria said he believes AI will soon be able to recreate the sounds of the more than 100 voices he’s done on The Simpsons over the past 35+ years. “It makes me sad to think about it. Not to mention, it seems just plain wrong to steal my likeness or sound–or anyone else’s,” he said.
Azaria voiced Simpsons characters in a variety of Simpsons games, including Hit & Run and Road Rage. He’s also known for his acting work in live-action projects, including the TV shows Friends and Mad About You, as well as the movies Heat, Along Came Polly, Night at the Museum, and The Birdcage.
Video game voice actors have been on strike since July 2024 in part over concerns about AI. Veteran voice actor Jennifer Hale believes AI represents an “existential” issue for the video game industry.
In terms of AI technologies being used to assist human game developers, a recent study found that the majority of game developers already use some form of generative AI as part of their workflows. Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick said recently that artificial intelligence is an oxymoron because machines do not learn.
“The bottom line is that these are digital tools and we’ve used digital tools forever,” Zelnick said. “I have no doubt that what is considered AI today will help make our business more efficient and help us do better work, but it won’t reduce employment.”