France's film dubbing industry accounts for 15,000 jobs, including actors, translators, sound technicians and artistic directors. And now the sector is mobilising to ensure its voice is still heard in the face of the artificial intelligence revolution.
In a studio near Paris, in a dark room with walls covered with blue fabric, a screen shows excerpts from the Japanese animated series Dragon Ball. Standing at a microphone, actor Bruno Méyère is dubbing several characters in French.
"You can go as far as 'raw'... There, that's perfect," applauds artistic director Brigitte Lecordier, also a well-known French voiceover actor, who that day is working with her son Louis, the production director.
"I am mostly known for my cartoon voice, Oui-Oui [Noddy], and especially Dragon Ball," says Lecordier, who is the voice of young Son Goku in the long-running series.
'Our voices are stolen'
Despite her success, the rise of artificial intelligence in the sector has her worried. "We are not against AI. It can bring things from a technical point of view and in terms of tools," she told RFI. "But we are very concerned. We want to continue creating and being artists, not be replaced by something that only creates by stealing from us. Our voices are stolen to generate AI and make us say things we did not choose to say."
The French dubbing industry was recently shocked by an excerpt from the latest Sylvester Stallone film, Armor, in which the French VoiceOver of the American actor was made using AI.
Not only was the end result considered poor quality by the industry, it had been produced using the voice of Alain Dorval, the French voice actor who had previously dubbed Stallone's voice – but passed away in February 2024.
His daughter, Aurore Bergé – currently a minister in French government – says the family agreed to her father's voice being used for a test, but did not authorise it beyond that.
It's a scenario that has raised questions over ethics in the industry, in the face of new technology.
"AI is taking the work of artists. Can we do without artists in society?" Lecordier asks. "AI does not create. It merely reproduces what has already been done, to a mediocre level," she adds.
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Preparation and post-recording
On the studio side, away from the microphone, one professional in the industry believes that the actors' fears are legitimate, but that although AI cannot faithfully reproduce emotion, it can be useful in speeding up the processes of preparation and post-recording, or to modify a word in case of error.
The economic stakes are significant for clients: in France, one minute of dubbing can cost Between €280 and €400.
Negotiations are under way between unions, studios, major American companies, TV channels and streaming platforms to establish a more protective framework for French dubbing professionals.
The Hollywood actors and screenwriters' strike of 2023 looms large, although industrial action is not yet on the table in France.
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Biometric data
Some actors say they have already seen their workload decrease due to AI.
For example, "mock-ups or other elements that are not broadcast but were recorded and for which we were paid," especially in the advertising sector, says Patrick Kuban from Lesvoix.fr and a member of United Voice Artists, which brings together organisations from 35 countries on the issue of AI and voicing work.
There have also been instances of AI companies, based outside France, cloning the voices of animation actors without their consent.
"We ask that our work is not exploited and that our voice and our face are protected. These are biometric data. We must be asked for our consent. However, platforms based in Dubai, the United States or Israel are circumventing the European General Data Protection Regulation [GDPR] to offer audiobook or dubbing services in France with 'stolen' voices," Kuban explains, echoing complaints that have already been made by the union groups involved in the negotiations in France.
The discussions are progressing, slowly, and a petition entitled "For dubbing created by humans for humans", launched in January last year, has garnered more than 160,000 signatures.
Workers in the sector still have a strong position in the negotiations: almost 9 out of 10 viewers in France watch films and TV shows dubbed with French voices.
► This report was produced by Justine Fontaine for the RFI podcast Reportage en France.
