Amazon Prime users are worried about the future of movies as streaming service adds new AI feature
As the battle of the streaming giants continues to heat up and we try to tighten our belts, there are sure to be casualties. With Netflix still reigning supreme, the likes of Disney+, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, and all the rest continue to find new ways to get us stumping up the monthly price of admission.
It's more than just ensuring we've got a regular slew of our favorite shows and blockbuster movies, with a variety of different features supposedly keeping us coming back more.
Netflix has promoted its own use of AI and an overhauled UI for giving users a more personalized selection, although there's been more recent backlash after the streaming service confirmed 300 of its movies had been made with a little help from AI.
At a time when the movie industry is clapping back at the likes of AI actor Tilly Nowood and Gal Gadot has been forced to defend starring in an AI movie about Bitcoin, there's still a heated debate about how AI can be integrated into Hollywood, and whether it should.
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Now, Amazon Prime has been called out over a new AI feature that will dub foreign languages into your native tongue.
There's admittedly nothing worse than seeing those poorly dubbed adverts for fabric softeners, where the English language has clearly been played over completely different words, but hoping to kill two birds with one stone, Amazon is using AI to sync an actor's mouth movements to English-language dubs.
As reported by TechSpot, the German-language Maxton Hall is trialling the feature as Amazon tests whether AI can make foreign languages feel more natural in post-production.
Amazon announced the rollout in a press release and explained: "Have you ever watched a dubbed movie only to notice the actors' mouths continuing to move after the dialogue has ended, taking you completely out of the story?"
Claiming it can give foreign language features a more "enjoyable and accessible viewing experience for our global customers," Amazon has picked Maxton Hall as Prime Video's most-watched International Original series.
These AI lip-sync dubs are available on both seasons of the series, with them later being added to season 3 when it launches on December 9.
Although it's unclear how far the feature will spread, Amazon confirmed it plans to add the tech to 'additional' titles. Moving beyond English-language dubs, could those in Japan watch Antony Starr's Homelander speaking in seamless Japanese when rewatching The Boys?
Will the next season of Fallout include the cast spouting impeccable German without needing to have brushed up on the language skills?
Championing the change, Raf Soltanovich, vice president of technology at Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, said: "At Prime Video, we're constantly innovating with new tools that enhance the viewing experience for our customers. With lip-syncing, we're creating a more seamless and immersive way for customers to enjoy global content.
"And for creators, we're making it easier for their stories to reach an even broader and global audience, all done under creative oversight to ensure the integrity of their artistic vision is preserved."
Even if Amazon thinks it's making things more accessible, some aren't so sure. Over on Reddit, disgruntled cinephiles lambasted the latest AI evolution.
One critic complained that a big part of an actor's performance comes from their ability to convey emotion, adding: "The issue isn't that the mouths don't sync up to the dub, it's that dubs in general are devoid of much of that emotion.
“I'd much rather watch with the original audio and translated subtitles than watch foreign actors be puppeted into saying words and making sounds which weren't part of their performance."
Another is worried about this will affect classic cinema, as they mused: "Y’all are gonna make Kung Fu movies suck. One of the most endearing aspects of old-school Kung Fu movies is the melodramatic dub."
Not everyone was against it, and as someone else saw the other side, they concluded: "I watch a lot of foreign content and struggle to get friends and family to watch things I recommend because they can't keep up with subtitles and the voice not matching the mouth weirds them out.
“It's not for me, but this could pull in new audiences that would otherwise skip it. It's possible it makes them popular enough that it will start to make financial sense to put more money to the dubs."
It’s noted that Meta and YouTube have their own AI dubbing features that translate creator videos into other languages, although Amazon’s differs because it pairs visual adjustments with human dubbing on a scripted series.