Amazon is experimenting with AI dubs on anime and other projects, and what it has done with Banana Fish is downright disgraceful.
    • xia@lemmy.caEnglish
      11·
      4 days ago

      Honestly… given the reaction seen here, I was expecting FAR worse. Assuming there is approximately zero human input/effort, I actually find it remarkable for a push-button auto-dubbing solution. In fact, if I had such a auto-dubbing “button”, I would most surely make heavy use of it, and maybe even pay extra for it as a service… but that might just be me.

        • xia@lemmy.caEnglish
          12·
          4 days ago

          I understand that it’s weird, and it sucks that they would lift this above a curated human dubs (I guess they have separate ongoing license fees?), but yeah… as best I can tell it would be watchable (which for me is better than subs-only). Though, I don’t know what it might do to my enjoyment (or brain) after a whole episode/season of ingesting this. :)

          I think where I land on this issue is that this ought to be a third pole. We have subs, dubs, and this… and IMO it is misleading to call it a dub, or mix these in with wittingly-dubbed content, but I certainly see value in it.

          Secondary effects may be another matter… part of me is afraid of a “raise to the bottom” effect, where we find ourselves in a position where nobody pays for high-quality dubs at some point. But in theory, lowering the barrier to dubbing does not necessarily need to bring everything down to trash level; if practically overnight everyone and their dog can auto-dub anime, there is no reason to have sub-only anime, pro-dub becomes a standout feature, and watchful streaming services could even see those autodubs that get high watch counts as a demand signal to pay for professional dubs.