Anthony Bourdain's AI-faked voice in new documentary sparks backlash

2016 file photo of Anthony Bourdain speaking during South By Southwest at the Austin Convention Center, in Austin, Texas. The revelation that a documentary filmmaker used voice-cloning software to make the late chef Bourdain say words he never spoke has drawn criticism amid ethical concerns about use of the powerful technology. – Photo: AP

In the documentary, editors Eileen Meyer and Aaron Wickenden weave in narration by Bourdain pulled from audio clips, show outtakes, video interviews and audiobooks. However, when asked how he obtained some quotes from Bourdain in a new article in the New Yorker, Neville tells writer Helen Rosner that he used artificial intelligence to create three quotes with Bourdain's voice. "I created an AI model of his voice," Neville says. He goes on to say, "If you watch the film, other than that line you mentioned, you probably don't know what the other lines are that were spoken by the AI, and you're not going to know."

Representatives for the documentary note that the AI voice technology was used for less than 60 seconds.

Film critics and documentary filmmakers took to Twitter in response to the article, expressing their discomfort with the artificially generated voice, which Neville characterised as a "modern storytelling technique."