Voice Actress Leaves Social Media After Harassment Over AI-Generated Video
Lindbeck, who voices one of the protagonists in Persona 5, left social media after a heated discussion around a YouTube video that used AI to clone her voice from the game for a cover of Bo Burnham’s song Welcome to the Internet. Screenshots of Lindbeck expressing her unhappiness with the video circulated on Reddit and Twitter, and the voice actress was quickly met with waves of harassment from trolls.
YouTube user Stereoyeung published a video using AI to clone Lindbeck’s voice from Persona 5 for a cover of Burnham’s song. Lindbeck, who voices the character Yuki Yagi in the RPG, tweeted screengrabs of the video with the caption “please don’t share it, report it.” However, despite both the original video and several reuploads being taken down, trolls continued to share the content and targeted Lindbeck with abuse.
“I was just asking people to report it and now I’m getting messages like this,” Lindbeck tweeted, along with a screenshot of messages calling her a “bitch” and a “cunt.” The voice actress clarified that her concern was not about the specific video, but about the potential negative effects of AI-generated content using voice actors’ voices without consent.
“This isn’t about just this one video,” Lindbeck later added. “There are so many videos like this already and there will be more. But they’re not just cloning our voices, they’re also impersonating us. We have no control over what they say or what they’re used for. That’s what I’m concerned about.”
Despite this, harassment towards Lindbeck continued. Some claimed that she initiated a “harassing campaign” against the creator of the original video and downplayed the issue by claiming that it was “just a YouTube video.” Fellow voice actors and cast members from Persona 5 came to Lindbeck’s defense, criticizing the abuse.
“Hey, remember when Erica wasn’t the only victim here? Me too,” voice actor Robbie Daymond, who plays Makoto Nijima in Persona 5, tweeted. “This is a constant thing though and needs to be addressed. We’re not just talking about this video.”
“It shouldn’t even be a question,” Erika Harlacher-Stone, who voices Futaba Sakura, tweeted. “It’s wrong to use people’s voices (or their likenesses) without their consent, and we shouldn’t need to say that.”
Cast members and voice actors from a variety of other games also showed support, including Yuri Lowenthal (Persona 5’s Yu, Sword Art Online’s Kiral, and many more), Mike Pollock (Persona 5’s Sojiro), and Josh Keaton (The Last of Us 2’s Sam and many more).
This incident follows a wave of voice actors denouncing the use of AI after their voices were cloned for NSFW deepfake mods without their consent. The National Association of Voice Actors highlighted the damage caused by AI and synthetic voices to voice actors and game companies, with the organization’s president, Illeana Douglas, saying, “It’s time for the gaming industry to stop and take notice.”
Lindbeck’s departure from Twitter highlights the ongoing concerns and discussions surrounding AI, ethics, and consent in the entertainment industry. It’s clear that there are still many questions to be answered and guidelines to be navigated as technology continues to advance and change the face of the gaming industry.
