Replacing actors with AI is "dumb as hell," says Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Baldur's Gate 3 star Jennifer English, because "humanness" is what makes these RPGs "so beloved"

Actors across film, television, and video games have been among the many creative voices loudly pushing back against AI, and Jennifer English is no exception. In a recent podcast interview, the Baldur's Gate 3 and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 star said that creating these sorts of RPGs with generative AI would destroy the "humanness" that makes them so beloved in the first place.

"I don't want perfect in my art. I do not want it. And I find it all a bit embarrassing and stupid, frankly. Don't replace humans with AI. That is dumb as hell," English says in a Radio Times interview, joined by fellow Baldur's Gate 3 star Samantha Béart and The Witcher himself, Doug Cockle.

"The reason why Baldur's Gate 3, [Clair Obscur] Expedition 33, The Witcher are all so beloved," English continues, "is because we infuse us, our stories, our humanness into that. The writers do. Look at Expedition 33, how Jen [Svedberg-Yen, writer] and Guillaume [Brioche, director] came up with this incredible, beautiful story that has moved millions of people. That is not AI. That is their story, their history."

English half-jokingly concludes, "Once we start taking that away, what have we got? Shame. [laughter]"

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It's worth noting that Expedition 33 did use generative AI during development for the creation of some background textures. While those textures were patched out after launch, it did cost the RPG one of its many GOTY awards. Director Guillaume Brioche has since made clear that all Sandfall's future content "will be made by humans."

Actors represented by SAG-AFTRA have taken action to build protections against AI, first as part of a film and television strike in 2023, then with another strike against game publishers in 2024 and 2025. That's around the same time now-former Amazon Games Christoph Hartmann was arguing that AI actors aren't really "taking work away" from human performers because "for games, we don't really have acting." So, you know, it's easy to see why video game actors might be eager to defend their position.

Divinity producer says using AI for "unimportant lines" removes "the chance to support performers" such as Baldur's Gate 3 star Jennifer English: "Every VA starts small."