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[JEMC]

Zkuq said:

JEMC said:

'We don't use AI…to replace people,' claims Arc Raiders CEO, without actually explaining what they do use it for
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/we-dont-use-ai-to-replace-people-claims-arc-raiders-ceo-without-actually-explaining-what-they-do-use-it-for/
Regardless of how players feel about the technology, AI is increasingly encroaching on both the behind-the-scenes game development and the final product that lands in players' hands. Just recently, Sony patented an AI-powered 'ghost' to guide you through games, Razer has made a holographic AI assistant in a test tube, golden child Larian is using generative AI in its development process for Divinity, and the biggest shooters on the market, Call of Duty and Battlefield 6, are locked in a battle to sneak in as much terrible AI art as possible. It's grim out there.
And then there's Embark Studios, which has used AI in both The Finals and its latest and greatest hit, Arc Raiders. Both prominently feature AI voices, for example, which has once again sparked debate over the ethics of using AI to generate assets for games that used to be created individually by people, whether artists or voice actors.
Perhaps to help clear the air, in a recent interview with GamesBeat's Dean Takahashi, Embark Studios CEO Patrick Söderlund expressed, "I think people have misconceptions about what [AI] means. I mean to us, we don't use AI to not have to hire people, or to replace people, or to replace job groups, that's not the point."
>> They use AI voices instead of hiring actors, but they aren’t replacing people. Sure... Anyway, there are other Arc Raiders/Embark articles: ”Arc Raider's defining feature, according to Embark's CEO, is all the odd player interactions” (link); “Embark CEO says Arc Raiders 'should do more with the trading part of the game'” (link; “Embark's CEO says they couldn't compete 'with the likes of EA and Activision' head on so they had to 'change the way games were being developed' (link).

I can come up with at least a couple of ways to utilize AI voices without them replacing people: adding voices that wouldn't exist otherwise, and prototyping. There might be even more, but there's definitely some legit possibilities there. As for your skepticism... I think I share it regardless, but I'm sure a lot of companies are honest about this stuff - I just don't know whether this particular one is.

The problem with your first point is that Sci-Fi movies have been giving aliens "voices" for decades, with plenty of them not being human at all. Prototyping could be an option, but then you find this from the time they launched The Finals: 

The Finals uses AI text-to-speech because it can produce lines 'in just a matter of hours rather than months', baffles actual voice actors

https://www.pcgamer.com/the-finals-uses-ai-text-to-speech-because-it-can-produce-lines-in-just-a-matter-of-hours-rather-than-months-baffles-actual-voice-actors/