[flat-pluto]

Makes me wonder about copyright when it comes to voice synthesis via AI. Like legally speaking, did they "need" JEJ to sign off on this as opposed to just using his voice as training data?

In the near future, I imagine it'd be easy enough to take a snippet of audio and transfer a celebrity's voice to it, similar to what we can already do to images using StyleGAN or something similar.

Exciting times ahead!

[Eleison23]

I think it was far less expensive for them to team up with Jones in the first place and create a PR buzz, rather than striking out on their own and risking a lawsuit by Jones or his estate, 100 years down the road. They fully realize this will soon be tested in the courts, and they don't want to pioneer that case law.

[Eridrus]

I don't think they did, but celebrities are nothing if not PR machines, so I'm sure it was simpler to get this signed.