Match of the Day football commentator Guy Mowbray has revealed he gave EA permission to create an AI voice clone of himself in order to assist with some of the more onerous aspects of recording commentary for EA Sports FC.
Mowbray shared the news as part of a BBC feature exploring how EA Sports FC’s commentaries are made, explaining that these days, recording or preparing for the game is a “part of my weekly routine”, taking up “pretty much every week from November all the way through to the start of July.”
“It takes so long because for every single facet of the game that you could think of, we have to cover every scenario,” he revealed. “It is so in-depth because it has got to feel and sound real – the whole point of the game is its authenticity.”
According to the report, one of the most repetitive elements of the recording process is reading out the name of every player in the game. Each name must be recorded several times, in different intonations, in order to fit within the wider commentary, and EA Sports FC features “more than 20,000 real male and female footballers”. As such, EA now uses AI to replicate Mowbray’s voice – with his permission – to “help” with this aspect of recording.
“AI has long been part of our development pipeline, from animation to gameplay systems,” EA told the BBC in reference to its AI usage, “and continues to support our teams in making better, more responsive football experiences. But when it comes to commentary and content, it’s always a collaboration with our talent – not a replacement.”
Generative AI does, of course, remain hugely controversial given the numerous ethical concerns associated with the technology. And it’s proved particularly contentious in the realm of video game voice acting. Last year, US voice actors union SAG-AFTRA ended a lengthy strike after finally securing “safety guardrails” around AI – and one of the union’s key requirements was that companies pay actors on an equivalent basis for digitally replicated voices.
You can read more about how voice actors and unions have been fighting back against gaming’s use of AI in Eurogamer’s lengthy report from last year.
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