Amazon AI Anime Dubs: A Dark Sign of the Future

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* AI-Generated Anime Dubs: Prime Video has begun a beta program using generative AI to create English and Latin American Spanish dubs for some anime series.
* Series Affected: Banana fish (2018) and No Game No Life Zero (2017) are among the series receiving these AI dubs. Banana Fish notably never had an official English dub before this.
* Fan reaction: Fans are overwhelmingly negative, describing the dubs as “absolutely awful” and “horrific.” complaints include poor intonation, pacing, and a lack of emotion. There are also reports of random Japanese voice clips appearing in the dubs.
* Stealth Rollout: Amazon did not officially announce the beta program; it was discovered by fans on social media.
* io9’s Inquiry: io9 has contacted Prime Video for comment but has not yet received a response.
* Dubbing History: The article notes a pre-existing perception among some anime fans that dubs are inferior to the original Japanese audio, but these AI dubs are considered even worse than traditionally poor-quality dubs.