Fortnite
The internet is currently littered with hundreds of clips of Fortnite players talking to Darth Vader via voice chat, who is no longer a bot saying a few canned lines, but a Google Gemini-powered AI character that can respond to player queries in real time.
There are many, many ethics conversations to be had about this. In this instance, Fortnite is using AI to clone and repurpose a dead actor’s voice, James Earle Jones, to make this feature. However, Jones signed his voice rights over to Disney before his death and his family is supportive of this new addition to Fortnite. So, is tech that can be abused and threatens the jobs of voice actors okay to use when the actor in question gives specific permission to use it?
I’m not sure about the complicated answer to that, though it does seem kind of creepy and unsettling to me. But if you understandably take the side this is a bad idea, the unfortunate truly is that Fortnite AI Vader is actually very funny.
No, I’m not talking about Darth Vader being jammed through the wall of his prompts to swear or say racial slurs, but it’s the breadth of his conversation and knowledge of real world info in addition to seemingly knowing the names and back story of every Fortnite character who talks to him. Here’s a collection of videos I’ve found that are some of the funniest, and more are appearing by the hour:
Darth Vader on whether Epic should acquiesce to the popular fan request of adding lightsaber mining tools to Fortnite:
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Darth Vader pumps up Peter Griffin:
Darth Vader tells a player they’re adopted:
Darth Vader seemingly threatens to kill a player in real life:
Darth Vader learns about Ichiban Kasuga:
Darth Vader accuses a player of cheating:
Darth Vader participates in the “Italian Brainrot” meme:
Darth Vader talks Hatsune Miku’s use of the Force:
Unlimited bacon confuses Darth Vader:
Darth Vader is concerned about Goku:
Darth Vader says a popular phrase:
Darth Vader asked if he’s in Kingdom Hearts 4:
Darth Vader on his alleged foot fetish:
Darth Vader ragequits a party:
Darth Vader gives Leon S. Kennedy relationship advice about Ada Wong:
Darth Vader gives his McDonald’s order:
Is a lot of this is stupid Gen Z meme stuff? Sure, a lot of it, but guess who mostly plays Fortnite at this point. Whatever you think of this, it’s abundantly clear that the vast majority of the Fortnite playerbase is not concerned with AI ethics and just wants to make Darth Vader say funny things. And I mean, he is. Expect to see a lot more of this in the future, for better or worse. But probably worse.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
