NextFin news, PARIS — On Wednesday, September 24, 2025, French voice actress Françoise Cadol and fans of the Tomb Raider video game series protested the use of artificial intelligence to clone Cadol's voice in the French-language update of Tomb Raider IV–VI Remastered, released in August 2025.
Cadol, who has voiced the character Lara Croft in French since 1996, discovered that the game's August 14 update included AI-generated voice content that replaced some of her original recordings. Fans immediately noticed the robotic and lifeless quality of the new voiceovers, which also contained grammatical errors, sparking outrage among the gaming community and the actress herself.
"It's pathetic," Cadol said, emphasizing that her voice belongs to her and that the unauthorized AI use was unacceptable. She promptly engaged legal counsel to seek an apology and financial compensation from Aspyr, the Texas-based game developer responsible for the update.
Aspyr acknowledged on its website that "unauthorized AI generated content" had been incorporated into the update and announced it had removed all AI voiceover content, apologizing for the inconvenience caused.
The controversy has raised alarms within the voice acting community, with professionals warning that AI voice cloning threatens their livelihoods. Patrick Kuban, a French-language voice actor and co-president of United Voice Artists, highlighted the broader implications of AI replacing human workers across various professions.
Fans like French gamer Romain Bos expressed disappointment, noting that Cadol's nuanced and sarcastic portrayal of Lara Croft was lost in the AI-generated voice. Bos posted a video lamenting the change and called for clear boundaries to protect talented actors in the future.
The incident reflects growing global concerns about AI's impact on creative industries, with similar debates occurring in Hollywood and other entertainment sectors regarding the ethical use of AI in voice and performance roles.
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