A few weeks ago, Françoise Cadol issued a cease and desist order against video game developer Aspyr. The French voice actress, whose credits include the Tomb Raider franchise’s iconic Lara Croft, had been notified by fans that her voice’s likeness had probably been tapped into for AI-generated dialogue in Tomb Raider 4-6 Remastered.
We were quick to report on this serious matter. At the time, it was anybody’s guess where things would lead – though, we certainly held hopes that, if the allegations proved accurate, something good would come of it. Perhaps Cadol’s lawsuit would proceed apace, as a landmark moment in an ongoing issue gripping the entertainment industry. Wherever things lead from here, one thing’s for sure: Aspyr knew when to pull the plug.
A Patch With A Singular Purpose
Yesterday, Aspyr released an addendum for Tomb Raider 4-6 Remastered’s second patch. Titled ‘Hotfix for Patch 2’, it has a sole intention: to “address unauthorized AI generated content.” Truly, that’s all Aspyr has said on the matter; everything that had been improved via that second patch will remain intact.
“We’ve addressed this issue by removing all AI voiceover content, while retaining the improvements made in the previous update. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Please reach out to our customer support site with any issues.” -Aspyr
There’s not much to parse here. Whether this occurred due to ongoing discussions behind the scenes over Cadol’s suit, we couldn’t say – though, it certainly appears likely. The patch itself was fairly extensive; labeling this a ‘hotfix’ is almost comical by comparison. One thing’s for sure: it confirms the existence of AI-generated voice content created without consent. Cadol and her fans were unmistakably in the right.
In a sense, however, we already knew this. YouTuber Tomb Raider de A a Z brought it to our attention two weeks ago that Brazilian actor Lene Bastos had been informed – directly via Aspyr – that the company would remove AI vocals related to Bastos’ own work in a future patch. ‘Hotfix for Patch 2’ surely fits the bill. Has it done the same for Cadol, and for other potential stolen voices? I’m sure things will become clearer soon.