Nancy Cartwright doesn't want to be replaced by AI
Nancy Cartwright - who has voiced Bart Simpson for over 35 years - doesn't think AI has enough "heart" to replace her on The Simpsons when she eventually retires.
Nancy Cartwright doesn't think AI has enough "heart" to replace her on The Simpsons.
The 68-year-old actress has voiced Bart Simpson for over 35 years and when she eventually retires, she hopes producers on the animated comedy series bring in a real-life replacement instead of relying on technology to replicate her speech.
She told People magazine: “I think I would choose a successor [instead of AI], and I'll tell you why — because AI has no heart and I think that's a missing ingredient.
"[AI] might sound pretty close to Nancy Cartwright, but I got passion.
“We're spiritual beings, we can emote passion and uplift people and stuff. And I don't know that a computer can do something like that.”
Nancy was initially supposed to audition for the voice of Bart's younger sister Lisa Simpson but had a change of heart at the last minute.
She said: “I go in and for the voice of Lisa Simpson, who's the middle child, and I saw it there, and then I saw the picture of Bart — 10-year-old school-hating underachiever and proud of it. And I'm like, ‘Wait a minute, that's more interesting.’ … So I auditioned and I got it."
Nancy's co-star, Hank Azaria - who voices the likes of Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum and Comic Book Guy, previously admitted he fears he will be replaced by AI in the future.
He wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times newspaper: “I imagine that soon enough, artificial intelligence will be able to recreate the sounds of the more than 100 voices I created for characters on The Simpsons over almost four decades.
"It makes me sad to think about it. Not to mention, it seems just plain wrong to steal my likeness or sound — or anyone else’s.
“In my case, AI could have access to 36 years of Moe, the permanently disgruntled bartender. He’s appeared in just about every episode of 'The Simpsons'. He’s been terrified, in love, hit in the head and, most often, in a state of bitter hatred. I’ve laughed as Moe in dozens of ways by now. I’ve probably sighed as Moe 100 times. In terms of training AI, that’s a lot to work with.”
But like Nancy, Hank - who has also worked on animated shows including Family Guy, Futurama, Spider-Man: The Animated Series and Bordertown - believes that however accurately AI can mimic his voice, it will be lacking in "humanness" because "our bodies and souls" play a big part in creating a character.
He wrote: “I’d like to think that no matter how much an AI version of Moe or Snake or Chief Wiggum will sound like my voice, something will still be missing — the humanness. There’s so much of who I am that goes into creating a voice. How can the computer conjure all that?...
“What will the lack of humanness sound like? How big will the difference be? I honestly don’t know, but I think it will be enough, at least in the near term, that we’ll notice something is off, in the same way that we notice something’s amiss in a subpar film or TV show.
“It adds up to a sense that what we’re watching isn’t real, and you don’t need to pay attention to it.
“Believability is earned through craftsmanship, with good storytelling and good performances, good cinematography and good directing and a good script and good music.”
