Baldur's Gate 3 Actor Neil Newbon Criticizes AI in Gaming: "It's Shit"

BG3's Astarion voice actor is 'not interested' in AI: 'Where's the joy in it?'

Neil Newbon - best known for his award-winning performance as Astarion in Baldur's Gate 3 -- has no interest in allowing studios to create an AI-generated version of his voice, in part because it leaves so little room for improvisation and "happy accidents." "You know, I spoke to a lot of devs, I know a lot of devs, and they don't want to use AI because it's shit," Newbon said in a recent episode of the Radio Times Gaming podcast. "It doesn't work very well, it takes a lot of effort to get something that's half-decent. Even with the modern [AI-generated] things that I've seen recently, it's like, 'Yeah, okay, great. You can make AI [content] and what? Like, what? Where's the joy in it?' I'm not interested in that." Newbon said that even when AI-generated content is well-made, he has no desire to engage with it because it's missing a vital part of the creative process: people, and the unpredictable mistakes they make. "You can always tell it's [got] something slightly off, it's not right," Newbon said of AI-generated content. "Even if it comes to a point where you can't tell the difference, so what? You know, why not make it with people? Why not have more fun? I'm not interested in seeing that stuff, because it's synthetic. It's not real. It doesn't have the 'happy accident' possibility and capability that are those great moments in film, TV, theatre, games, where nobody can predict [what's going to happen], it just happened. It was magical." Newbon specifically cited a well-known line of dialogue Dustin Hoffman improvised on the spot while filming Midnight Cowboy, implying the moment likely never would have happened if Hoffman's performance were AI-generated. "You know, Dustin Hoffman banging [on] the car, [saying], 'I'm walkin' here!' -- because he almost got run over, but stayed in character -- is iconic, and it was a complete accident!" Newbon explained. "Most of the famous things in like, film and TV [that] you can quote are those happy accidents." Earlier this month, SAG-AFTRA finally secured protections from AI for voice actors and other video game performers after a year-long strike. The recently ratified agreement requires that game developers and publishers get explicit consent from voice actors before creating digital replicas of their voices. Studios must also give actors a detailed description of how any digital replica may be used, and performers ultimately have the choice to opt out of projects or have their voice removed from platforms like Narrativ, an AI company that works with actors and their agents to create digital voice replicas and make them available for licensing.

Astarion voice actor Neil Newbon sinks his fangs into AI and shreds it: 'AI sucks ... It doesn't have the happy accident possibility that are those great moments in film'

AI! It's the new big thing. It's the foundation of the 21st-century digital economy. It's going to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. It will punish the wicked and reward the righteous. It'll bring about the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. And you're going to lose your job if you don't learn how to use it. That's what I hear from people whose multi-trillion dollar market caps ride on AI continuing to be the next big thing, anyway, but down here in the muck? Opinions vary. Take Neil Newbon, who you almost certainly know as the actor for Astarion in Baldur's Gate 3, for instance. In a recent chat with Radio Times Gaming, Newbon spoke some hot truth about just how useful AI could be for actors like him: "It's shit." "You know, I spoke to a lot of devs, I know a lot of devs, and they don't want to use AI because it's shit," says Newbon. "It doesn't work very well. It takes a lot of effort to get something that's half decent." He's not wrong. Videogame experiments with voice acting have been many and iffy. The stilted delivery of The Finals' commentators? The "rancid" AI-powered Aloy that wasn't meant for public consumption? Modders replacing the time-honoured tradition of the amateur enthusiast speaking into a crappy headset mic with artificial voices? All these crimes and more can be laid at the feet of AI. "Even with the modern things that I've seen recently, it's like, 'Yeah, okay, great. You can make AI, and what?' Where's the joy in it? ... You can always tell that something's slightly off. It's not right," says Newbon. Which is correct, so far as I'm concerned, but the obvious rejoinder is, 'Well, it won't always be slightly off.' AI acting will, I suspect, someday improve to the point where you can't tell the difference between it and a real actor. But Newbon, being a rather clever sort with a lot of experience in his field, has a great rebuttal to that: "It's synthetic, it's not real. It doesn't have the happy accident possibility and capability that are those great moments in film, TV, theatre, games, where nobody can predict [it] -- it just happened. It was magical." By way of example, Newbon points to Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy. "You know, Dustin Hoffman banging the car -- 'I'm walking here!' -- because he almost got run over but stayed in character, is iconic. And it was a complete accident. Most of the most famous things in film and TV you can quote are those happy accidents. So yeah, AI sucks."

Baldur's Gate 3 Astarion actor says "AI sucks" and "doesn't work very well," and even if it didn't suck, "so what? Why not make it with people? Why not have more fun?"

"Even if it comes to a point where you can't tell the difference, so what?" asks Neil Newbon Standing up for actors and standing squarely on the neck of generative AI, Baldur's Gate 3 Astarion actor Neil Newbon argues "AI sucks" for a variety of reasons, chief among them its unreliability and inherent soullessness. Newbon discussed AI in a recent episode of the Radio Times Gaming podcast. The technology came up during a chat about Newbon's Pixel Pack, described on his YouTube channel as "a collective of prolific game actors, uniting for a groundbreaking multi-city photoshoot that honors their contributions while challenging outdated industry perceptions." Pixel Pack is about championing actors, Newbon reiterates on the podcast, and AI is a big part of that today. "I spoke to a lot of devs, I know a lot of devs, and they don't want to use AI because it's shit," he says. "It doesn't work very well. It takes a lot of effort to get something that's half-decent. Even with the modern things that I've seen recently, it's like, yeah, OK, great, you can make AI. And what? Where's the joy in it? I'm not interested in that. You can always tell that something's slightly off, it's not right. Even if it comes to a point where you can't tell the difference, so what? Why not make it with people? Why not have more fun?" Newbon isolates one of the simple, unavoidable issues with generative AI: the viewer's experience is one half of art, and the creator's intent is the other. There is no intent or creator with AI-generated art, so you're unavoidably losing half of what makes art art. "I'm not interested in seeing that stuff because it's synthetic," Newbon continues. "It's not real. It doesn't have the happy accident possibility and capability that are those great moments in film, TV, theater, games, where nobody can predict, it just happened, it was magical." He points to an "iconic" scene of Dustin Hoffman, while filming Midnight Cowboy, having a run-in with a taxi but staying in character, creating one of the most memorable moments in the film. "Most of the famous things in film, TV you can quote are those happy accidents," Newbon says. "So yeah, AI sucks. AI is a tool. It should be used as a tool, not as a replacement for art." Some game devs and studio heads are clearly quite keen on AI, with Valve co-founder Gabe Newell arguing it will be "a cheat code" for "pretty much every single business" and EA execs already calling generative AI "the very core of our business," but the technology remains controversial. Beyond the issues Newbon calls out - and many devs have skewered AI as a waste of time - there's white-hot discussion around the threat posed to creators, with overinvestment in AI seemingly fueling some of Microsoft's many layoffs.