Aloy’s Voice Actor Fears AI Could Block New Talent From Breaking Into the Gaming Industry

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Aloy’s Voice Actor Fears AI Could Block New Talent From Breaking Into the Gaming Industry

The woman behind Horizon’s most famous robot hunter, Aloy, has some very human concerns about artificial intelligence. Ashly Burch isn’t just worried about her own career—she’s thinking about the next generation of voice actors who might never get their shot.

While studios salivate over cost-cutting AI solutions, veteran performers are sounding alarms about something more insidious than job displacement. They’re worried about career extinction before careers even begin.

The timing couldn’t be more relevant, with

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’s Veo 3 proving that AI can now recreate entire movie performances from simple prompts, and Fortnite letting players chat with a digitally—and questionably—resurrected James Earl Jones.

The apprenticeship problem that nobody’s talking about

Every major voice actor started somewhere unglamorous. Burch herself cut her teeth on smaller roles before landing Aloy in Horizon Zero Dawn, building skills through the very positions that AI now threatens to eliminate.

Speaking to

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‘s latest episode of The Games That Made Me podcast, Burch didn’t ****** words about what’s really at stake for aspiring performers:

I am afraid of some developers trying to use AI to replace performers in roles that I cut my teeth on coming up. If you cut away so many of these roles that younger performers need to cut their teeth and get their experience, we’re gonna be losing out on our next generation of great performers.

This isn’t about protecting established careers—it’s about preserving the entire ecosystem that creates them. When studios replace NPC voices and multiplayer callouts with AI, they’re essentially pulling up the ladder behind current stars.

I do think there is a risk of NPCs in those worlds or… characters that are in multiplayer games that do callouts. Things that are maybe less sessions and not as narratively heavy. I could conceive of a world in which a dev might be like, ‘yeah, let’s just have AI do that…’

The cruel irony? These “throwaway” roles that seem perfect for AI replacement are actually the training ground where future Aloys learn their craft. Remove them, and the industry creates a talent drought it won’t notice until it’s too late.

When AI becomes too good for anyone’s comfort

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Recent developments prove Burch’s fears aren’t hypothetical anymore.

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’s Veo 3 can generate convincing actor performances for entire scenes, while Fortnite’s latest controversial Darth Vader feature lets players converse with James Earl Jones’s AI-recreated voice.

These aren’t distant possibilities—they’re current realities that make every performer’s job security questionable.

I feel worried about this art form. Game performance as an art form.

The technology itself isn’t inherently evil, but the industry’s approach to implementing it raises serious ethical questions. When studios can replicate voices without consent or compensation, the entire performer-developer relationship becomes exploitative.

The technology isn’t the problem… The problem is that we are currently on strike and the bargaining group will not agree to give us common sense protections.

It’s worth noting here that Burch’s stance isn’t anti-progress; it’s pro-choice. She advocates for AI as an option, not a replacement, emphasizing that performers should control how their voices are used and monetized.

The real tragedy isn’t just about current performers losing work. It’s about creating an industry where the next generation never gets the chance to develop the skills that made today’s stars irreplaceable.

What’s your take on AI’s role in voice acting? Should studios prioritize cost savings or preserve traditional career paths? Comment below.

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#Aloys #Voice #Actor #Fears #Block #Talent #Breaking #Gaming #Industry

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