AI Voice Cloning Sparks Outcry Among Tomb Raider Fans, Actors

French *Tomb Raider* fans and actors expressed outrage after an Aug. 14 update to *Tomb Raider IV–VI Remastered* incorporated an AI-generated voice for protagonist Lara Croft. This AI voice replaced French voice actor Françoise Cadol's long-standing portrayal, prompting immediate criticism.

Credit: STEAM

Romain Bos, a lifelong French gamer, noted the "robotic" and "lifeless" quality of the French-language voice, contrasting it with Cadol's "warmth, grace, and believability." Cadol, who has voiced Croft since 1996, immediately contacted her lawyer.

Aspyr, the Austin, Texas-based game developer, acknowledged incorporating "unauthorized AI generated content" into the Aug. 14 update. The company later posted on its website that it had "addressed this issue by removing all AI voiceover content" and apologised "for any inconvenience this may have caused."

The incident has raised alarms within the voiceover community, sparking wider concerns about artificial intelligence's impact on human workers and employment. Patrick Kuban, a French-language voice actor and co-president of United Voice Artists, warned that AI encroachment could extend beyond actors to "accountants, and a whole range of other professions."

Kuban noted similar concerns globally, citing instances of actors' voices being "captured" for "illicit use on social media" and by "content producers" in different countries. He highlighted the difficulty for actors to reclaim control over their voices and to block these uses.

Cadol discovered the cloning when her phone "began erupting" with messages, emails, and social media notifications from upset fans minutes after the update's release. She described her fans, whom she calls "guardians," as having an "intimate bond" with her work over 12 years of voiceovers from 1996 to 2008.

Jonathan Elkaim, Cadol's Paris lawyer, is seeking an apology and financial redress from Aspyr. Fans specifically identified an awkward segment in the update where a voice instructed players to "Place toi devant et appuyez sur avancer" — "Stand in front and press 'advance'."

This instruction was criticised for sounding "clunky" and being "grammatically incorrect" to French speakers, as it mixed polite and less polite forms of address. Bos posted a YouTube video expressing his disgust, stating, "It's half Françoise Cadol, half AI. It's horrible! Why have they done that?"

Credit: Tomb Raider

Bos, a 34-year-old, explained he "grew up with Françoise Cadol's voice" and had been a *Tomb Raider* fan "since I was young kid." He emphasised the need to "set boundaries" so future generations could experience talented actors.

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• An Aug. 14 update to *Tomb Raider IV–VI Remastered* featured an AI-generated voice for Lara Croft, replacing the original voice actor.

• French voice actor Françoise Cadol and many fans expressed immediate outrage, citing the AI voice as "robotic" and "lifeless."

• Game developer Aspyr acknowledged and removed the "unauthorized AI generated content" from the update, issuing an apology.

Source: AP NEWS