A Persona 5 actor has left Twitter after being harassed. The video game industry is a very big, diverse place. Unfortunately, with such a large group of people and the benefit of anonymity, it has also resulted in some truly heinous things. People are frequently harassed and targeted for their opinions, content, and so on centered around gaming. It’s pretty unfortunate and has resulted in the online gaming scene getting a reputation for being toxic and unwelcoming. While this is often thought of as happening between players themselves, even actors for these beloved games get harassed and chased off of social media.
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Earlier this week, Persona 5 actor Erica Lindbeck left Twitter after a ton of harassment. The Futaba Sakura actor kindly requested a YouTuber take down a video which used AI to replicate Lindbeck’s Futaba Sakura voice to sing songs and do other things that they had not consented to. The YouTuber obliged, but others did not take so kindly to it. Many thought it was an absurd request, reuploaded the video, and got upset with Lindbeck. The actor opted to just leave Twitter instead of continue to drag things out, which is rather unfortunate. Other actors like Spectacular Spider-Man actor Josh Keaton chimed in and defended Lindbeck, noting that they have every right to ask for AI content using their voice to be taken down. Marvel’s Spider-Man actor Yuri Lowenthal added on to this simply by stating “Seconded”.
The rise of AI has caused a lot of tension in the entertainment industry. There is concern that studios may rely on AI to write/edit scripts, make actual movies/sequences, or replicate actors, as seen in these AI videos. Marvel Studios recently used AI to create its intro sequence for Secret Invasion, which led to a lot of controversy. Ultimately, it seems pretty fair for an actor to be not ok with someone using their voice to make new content, but unfortunately, that probably won’t stop people from actually doing it. As of right now, it’s unclear if Lindbeck will return to Twitter anytime soon.
[H/T GameRant]
