One of the most arresting aspects of Morgan Neville's documentary about Anthony Bourdain, Roadrunner, was Neville's use of generative AI to recreate Bourdain's voice.
Looking back, Neville told Wired that he thought this was a “fun” way to keep up. [Bourdain’s] There are voices in the movie. ” However, his approach drew heavy criticism. Although the synthetic Bourdain only read the words the real Bourdain actually wrote, Neville said many viewers thought, “Oh, they just made it up.” [expletive] above. “
“A lot of people said there were other documentary projects doing the same thing and everyone reacted. They should either change what they're doing or put a huge disclaimer on everything. ” he said.
Since then, the manager has “completely avoided” the use of AI. Even in Piece by Piece, a new documentary that dramatizes musician Pharrell's life with Lego (yes, really), Neville carefully avoided action.
“Carl Sagan” [Piece by Piece] “Farrell,” and I had made it clear to everyone, with his widow's permission, that I was going to have him say “Farrell” without using AI.” Neville said. “We actually experimented with building words from syllables. [he actually said]”