Starting on July 30th, Fortnite players will be able to talk and interact with characters that have unique, AI-powered voices. Epic Games, the company that makes the popular game, is introducing 36 artificial intelligence characters with distinct personalities for creators to use in their custom game worlds. These characters include Fortnite favorites like Agent Jonesy, the banana character Peely, Fishstick, and Cuddle Team Leader.
These AI voices are created using voice recordings from professional, independent actors. The actors agreed to let Epic Games use their voices to train the AI models. In the future, Epic Games plans to work with actors' guilds to bring the voices of famous actors into the game as well.
This is not the first time Epic Games has experimented with AI voices. Last year, they introduced a Darth Vader character using the voice of the famous actor James Earl Jones. Although players quickly found ways to make the character say bad words, Epic solved the problem quickly. The company has created strict rules for developers to ensure that the new AI characters remain safe and friendly for all players.