Studio Ghibli's AI-generated images, but now it's in a brand-new controversy.

The voice actor industry has entered a bit of a rift ever since companies wanted to implement a structure that could allow for AI to begin training off their voices. This could lead to voice actors getting less work down the line if companies would rather use a machine to spit out line deliveries rather than utilize a human voice to help bring a character to life.

Super Cube's AI English Dub Delivery Needs Major Work

Fans Prefer To Stick With English Subtitles Instead

While making the donghua easily accessible to an English-speaking audience is commendable, Super Cube's English dub is not at the level it needs to be to replicate the same nuances an actual voice actor would bring to the table. The line deliveries are monotonous and have a very strange cadence when it comes to tackling longer lines. There are areas where lines sound like they are being dubbed by two different people, indicating the AI may not be able to keep up a consistent tone unique to one character.

Audiences who have taken a chance on the English dub are almost immediately regretting it, remarking that an actual studio could have done a better job and that the voiceover was terrible, even when comparing it to some lesser-quality English dubs, such as Ghost Stories. Although English dubbing has been the brunt of many jokes in the past, the industry has come a long way in capturing those same sentiments that don't always translate well from Chinese to English, resulting in some amazing voice acting within the last few years.

AI Is Not Ready To Take Over Human Voices In Animation

Although Localization Isn't Perfect

Localization is not perfect, however, and it's not always easy to bring the idioms, references, and wordplay that are common knowledge in China to an English-speaking audience who would have no understanding of it. As mentioned by voice actor and director, Michaela Laws, translation is a very difficult process that requires a lot of human judgment in how lines can continue to reflect happiness or sadness that conveys properly to the audience, regardless of where they are from. iQIYI's latest AI project with Super Cube's English dub shows that it's not ready to take over real human voices nor does it seem to be wanted by a large portion of the community.