The renowned voice actor believes that AI will help us turn toward authenticity instead of the distorted reality we see in a black mirror.

AI is changing the world, but many people are skeptical of it. This includes Troy Baker, the famous voice actor of Joel in The Last of Us and Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, who seems a little more optimistic than many of us. In an interview with The Game Business, Baker said that he is not afraid of technology. He suggested that, once things have settled down, one of AI’s major effects could be to renew people’s interest in human-created art rather than machine-generated content. But what about artists themselves? Baker does not see their role changing.

“AI can create content, but it cannot create art. The reason is that it invariably requires the human experience. I see this birth of AI and burgeoning industry actually driving people to authenticity. We’re going to see opportunities like, ‘I want to watch this person sing this song live.’ ‘I want to see theater.’ ‘I want to read books.’ People will want to have these first-hand experiences as opposed to the watered-down version they get through a black mirror. People say, ‘Look what AI can do.’ It’s like, ‘Yeah, okay. I see what it’s capable of doing. But it doesn’t matter.’ We don’t need to diminish, denigrate, or demonize it. We just need to acknowledge its existence. But that still doesn’t take away my choice as a performer and producer to say, ‘But I choose to do this.’ There’s no doubt that AI can create content far superior to what humans can produce. It can crank it out with no problem. It can create content, but it cannot create art. The reason is that art invariably requires the human experience,” Baker said.

In fact, the two are intertwined in virtually every way. Without existing wealth, we need someone to pay for our art so we can put food on the table. Baker may be right that AI will not destroy people’s desire to create or enjoy art, but those desires are worthless if those who hold the purse strings do not pay for art to be made.

If we allow senior executives to push us into the AI-based future they desire, it will be bleak for artists.

Source: PCGamer, The Game Business