Yesterday, the organization of which I am co-chair, the German dubbing association Synchronverband, published a statement of solidarity with the Writers Guild of America, on strike for better pay, residuals, working conditions, and, perhaps most importantly, a regulated AI.
The Synchronverband includes creatives, trades, and dubbing companies as members, so we are not allowed to talk about money issues, because this would be considered price rigging. We are, however, all equally affected by the developments in artificial intelligence, and the changes these will cause in the industry.
Translation for dubbing is a job that’s pretty immediately under threat, so is voice acting, the others might soon follow. However, it’s not just people. Dubbing companies are building an enormous amount of new studio space at the moment – but if a film dub can be done with the touch of a button, with synthetic voices, what will this investment be good for? This is not just a case of German Angst, or the very Germanic lack of enthusiasm for change. As we prepared our statement of solidarity with the WGA and contacted European sister organizations for supporting signatures, everyone jumped on board.
Artificial intelligence can do a lot, no doubt. Many of us hope that it will do the tedious boring stuff for us, and I keep my fingers crossed for that. I’d love to have an AI organize my grocery shopping so that I can use the time that I stand in a food aisle, my head utterly devoid of ideas for what I might want to cook, for fun stuff, for sports, or maybe for creative stuff.
My problem is: AI wants to do the creative stuff AS WELL, the stuff that I get paid for in order to PAY for the groceries. And not only do I get paid for this, it’s also fun. It gives me deep satisfaction.
And most importantly: I use my own creativity in the service of someone else’s, the creativity of a screenwriter, and of everyone else involved in the making of a film or a series. I feel a responsibility to do right by them. And a responsibility to the people who watch those series. To the people who use the results of someone else’s creativity to fire up their own imagination, to get lost in a world of action or romance, whether it’s just mundane distraction or the intellectual challenge of an arthouse film. This transfer of one person’s creativity to another one’s imagination is the definition of humanity.
That’s why dubbers and the creators of the originals are on the same side here, and possibly the reason why our statement was received with such enthusiasm by our fellow dubbers in Italy, in Spain, in France, and in Portugal. They understood right away: “What comes out of a human soul and touches another human being’s heart should not go through a machine.”
The full statement:
“Don’t let Artificial Intelligence write the stories that make our hearts beat.”(Mandy Patinkin)
The unthinking enthusiasm for Artificial Intelligence is an existential threat to the dubbing industry. This concerns everyone working in the field – freelancer or employee – and dubbing companies equally. Too big is the temptation to minimize the human element in the complex process of film dubbing, in order to save time and money.
But a film can not be dubbed with the push of a button. And even if that should one day be possible, we feel a responsibility to give both the originals, crafted with so much creative energy, and the audiences, who are touched by them in heart and soul, the respect that they deserve. What comes out of a human soul and touches another human being’s heart should not go through a machine.
Neither do we want to use our creativity in the service of a product that was constructed by a machine.
We are on the same side, whether we create the originals or the dubbed versions.
We declare our solidarity with the concern of the Writers Guild of America: AI should not be used as a replacement for human efforts and creativity, and the use of material for the training of AI must be regulated. And we appeal to everyone who works in the film and in the dubbing industry:
Don’t leave the stories that move us up to Artificial Intelligence.
