EA Sports FC 26 uses AI to replicate commentators’ voices: “It’s a collaboration, not a replacement.”

AI is here to stay, but it poses risks that threaten to compromise the survival of some professions. Actors have been among those who have fought hardest to prevent their voices from being replicated without their permission. This is not the case with EA Sports FC 26, which, according to one of the commentators, Guy Mowbray, has given EA Sports permission to reproduce his voice in certain specific cases.

Mowbray explained that the process is lengthy, “a never-ending job,” because it always requires recording additional lines: “It constantly needs updating - with new names for all the new players, plus new terminology and new features in the game. It’s an ever-evolving process and it’s exciting to be part of it because it never stands still.”

Naming the thousands of players available in the game can be a repetitive task, but doing so with different intonations is even more so, because the voice must sound natural in every situation. It’s not the same to shout out a player’s name when he’s about to score a goal as when he makes a pass in the middle of the field.

They have the commentators’ permission

“AI has long been part of our development pipeline,” EA said in a statement sent to the BBC. According to the company, they use it for animations and gameplay systems as a tool to create “better and more responsive soccer experiences.”

However, the statement clarifies that in the case of commentators, this is done with the permission of the professionals: “But when it comes to commentary and content, it’s always a collaboration with our talent - not a replacement.”

Mowbray himself argues that more complex commentary can only be provided by the commentator in question: “Say there is a scenario where a team is crossing the halfway line but we don’t know if it will develop into anything, so, I might say, ‘oh a promising attack, what could they do from here?’ as a line of commentary to explain that - but we need 10 different ways of doing that, so I will have to think of another nine ways of saying it.”

EA Sports FC 26 is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, and PC.

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