AI

Don’t. Drink. THE KOOL-AID.

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Lazarus Ep 6 Review

Have you ever heard the phrase “Drinking the Kool-Aid?” It became popular in the aftermath of the Jonestown Massacre, an event in which almost a thousand Americans from the cult of the People’s Temple killed themselves in mass suicide via poisoned drinks. While the drinks weren’t made with Kool-Aid, but a different brand, the phrase still has the same meaning: buying into a idea that is incredibly stupid and self-destructive. I.E. trying to kill yourself because a deranged cult leader says so. Unfortunately for Lazarus, their next lead on locating Skinner has to be in one such cult. And everyone there is about to drink the Kool-Aid.

It should also be noted that this marks the first episode since the pilot where a character doesn’t open things with a monologue.

An AI Cult

Having come up with no leads about Skinner for the umpteenth time, Lazarus changes tactics again. They find an old article about how Skinner once visited this Neo-Luddite commune that worships this AI called Naga as a god. They think it’s a good hiding place for Skinner, but since they can’t hack into Naga, Elenia and Leland have to sneak in.

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The twist: this cult, Tower of the Truth, is where Elenia grew up before, perhaps wisely, running away. It gets even crazier, though, when it’s revealed that Naga the AI was based on the brain patterns of Dr Skinner. And because they didn’t know to leave well enough alone, the scientists at MIT that created Naga added in a desire for power and need for control.

Artificial intelligence has long been a staple of science fiction, but for every example of one that doesn’t go nuts, there are multiple examples of Hal, Skynet, Ultron, and the Absolute Solver. With AI starting to get more and more powerful in recent years, there is a legitimate concern that they could go mad with power and destroy humanity. It’s why the Three Laws of Robotics are a concept, and why people are urging AI not to be abused. And unfortunately for the Tower of the Truth, Naga’s creators did the exact opposite by giving him a god complex. And in an effort to prove its own divinity, Naga plans to have the entire cult commit suicide by immolation. It’s having them drink the Kool-Aid and go full Jonestown!

This is Why Need to Not Be Dumb With AI

The entire episode is more or less a cautionary tale about two things: the dangers of unethical AI, and the dangers of living a life isolated from any outside information. While the Tower members aren’t wrong about the world being filled with a lot of bad things, shutting themselves off from life means they don’t understand why trying to commit mass suicide is a terrible idea. Then again, Skinner suckered most of humanity into drinking another kind of Kool-Aid in pill form, so…

Fortunately for Elenia and Leland, they manage to convince one of her only friends in the cult to save them, and Lazarus is able to stop the drinking of Kool-Aid before most of them die. The only casualty is the leader of the cult, an Ex-MIT scientist who became obsessed with Naga in the first place. As for Naga, he survives, only to get told off for being nuts by Axel and likely destined for deactivation/execution.

Things aren’t a total loss, though. Lazarus managed to recover Naga’s memory banks, so if the AI had any other contact with Skinner, they can find it. It’s probably going to be another wild goose chase, but maybe we’ll be surprised this time. At least we won’t have to worry about the Kool-Aid anymore!

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I Give “Heaven is a Place on Earth” a 4/5

Masako Nozawa, Voice of Goku, to be Immortalized in AI

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Blogging, Dubs & Subs, Voice Actor Spotlight , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Well, it’s official now. The voice of Goku shall be forever immortalized.

In recent years, the use of artificial intelligence has become increasingly widespread and controversial. Many people are pointing out how programs like ChatGPT and the like can easily be used to replace the jobs of actual people. Worse, many voice actors fear that their voices could be replicated and reused without them getting any form of compensation for it. So, it’s pretty controversial in the entertainment industry.

Now it could get even more controversial. A few days ago, the management agency for Masako Nozawa, the legendary seiyuu for Goku, has teamed up with a company that specializes in AI voice technology. Nozawa will be among a group of people who will permit their voices to be used for various voice-related technology across multiple different languages. In other words, we could hear the Japanese voice of Goku being used for an Alexa in the future. More importantly, though, that would give the owners of Dragon Ball the means to keep voicing Goku even after Masako has passed on.

And you know what? I’m okay with that.

I normally do not approve of companies making AI copies of famous celebrities voices. Especially when they do it without their consent or deciding not to pay them. However, the difference here is that Nozawa has consented to this. She’s agreed to let it happen! And she’s not the only celebrity I’ve talked about on here who has done so. A few weeks ago, I talked about how the late James Earl Jones, the voice of Darth Vader, had agreed to have his voice replicated by another AI company. He agreed to it, and so has Masako Nozawa. Thus, I have no right to complain.

If I’m being perfectly honest, I’m glad that she’s agreed to this. Masako is 87 right now, and as much as we may want it, she can’t keep playing Goku forever. I think that she understands this, and so she doesn’t want to see the character of Goku die with her. By doing this, she’s making sure that Goku can continue to be voiced by her for as long people want to keep making stuff for Dragon Ball. Some voices are too powerful to let them fade away, and this is a prime example.

Erica Lindbeck Leaves Social Media Due to AI Stealing Her Voice

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My Take on the Erica Lindbeck Controversy

If you’ve been online over the last few months, you might have heard about the controversy surrounding the use of AI. Recent advancements in AI technology have led to a boom in the use of artificial intelligence for things such as writing, creating art, and even imitating people’s voices. While some might see it as a helpful tool to make our lives easier, there are people with good reason to be wary of its use. Many talented people make a living from writing, artwork, and voice acting. Those same people may now risk losing that livelihood, but not everyone seems to care about this. Case in point, Erica Lindbeck, a talented voice actress, just quit social media for trying to stand up for herself against AI.

What Happened to Erica Lindbeck?

Erica Lindbeck is a young and up-and-coming voice actress who has gotten several high-profile roles over the last few years. She’s had roles in everything from Dragon Ball to Persona and Fire Emblem to The Owl House and the popular web series Helluva Boss. She also happened to date fellow voice Billy Kametz, the voice of Josuke in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and Naofumi in Shield Hero, until his untimely death from cancer in June 2022.

I wasn’t aware of this until after the fact, but the controversy started a few days ago online. Erica Lindbeck discovered that someone had used a voice-generated AI of her character, Futaba Sakura from Persona V, to make a cover song without her consent. She asked the person to remove the video, but others were not as understanding and responded by criticizing her on social media. Rather than deal with the flame war this would generate, Erica opted to remove herself from the equation. Currently, she’s deleted her social media accounts on Twitter and Instagram.

This is Part of a Larger Problem

In the wake of Erica’s departure from social media, other voice actors have spoken up in her defense. With AI becoming able to mimic their voices and do their work for them, many voice actors fear that they may lose their jobs. 

While some may see this as paranoia, their concerns might be justified. In recent months, countless videos using voice-generated AI have started appearing on YouTube. While made for fun rather than out of malice, this is still a major problem for the people whose voice they’re using: none of it’s done with their consent.

Voice acting may seem like a fun job (and it likely can be), but what people need to remember is that it’s still a job. At the end of the day, people depend on the work they do as voice actors to pay the bills. If they can get replaced in favor of cheaper AI, then they’ll be out of a job! And the continued use of AI like this only encourages people to do it more, further exacerbating the problem.

We Need to Be Smarter About This New Power

As for where I personally stand regarding this, I am torn. On the one hand, I find the advancement of AI to the point where it can mimic other people’s voices impressive. This could enable us to create works of fiction that feature the voices of people long since dead and buried, like Michael Jackson, Robin Williams, and even Elvis. On the other hand, it’s making the job of voice actors like Erica Lindbeck harder than it already is by cutting them out of the equation. And that’s not even getting into issues like how AI could be used to write articles and create artwork in place of actual people. 

I don’t think AI is an inherently bad thing. It could benefit humanity in the long run if we ensure it cannot go Skynet or Ultron on us. When applied in a responsible manner, it could even be a useful tool for writers, artists, and people with similar professions rather than an outright replacement. Since the technology’s still so new, though, how we decide to use it now could decide what’s ethically permitted ten, even twenty years from now. The bottom line is we need to be responsible with this new power, or else bad stuff’s going to happen like seeing popular entertainment icons bailing on social media.