Troy Baker, a voice actor known for his roles in games such as The Last of Us and many other games, has jumped aboard the NFT train. He announced on Twitter this morning that he's now partnered to make Troy Baker NFTs with a company called VoiceVerse NFT, founded by the Bored Ape Yacht Club, which specializes in providing "the world's first Voice NFTs."
This brings up the question of what exactly a Voice NFT is. VoiceVerse NFT posted a Twitter thread explaining that they "provide unlimited, perpetual access to the underlying AI voice that the NFT represents ownership of," and can't be right-clicked on. Owners can use the voice linked to that NFT to create video content, and they'll have ownership of the IPs they create by using the voice. The Voice NFTs provide royalties to the creator of the original voice actor who provided the voice, although it's uncertain how the royalties stack up to union rates. It's very likely that we'll hear these Troy Baker NFTs sometime in the future.
I’m partnering with @VoiceverseNFT to explore ways where together we might bring new tools to new creators to make new things, and allow everyone a chance to own & invest in the IP’s they create.
— Troy Baker (@TroyBakerVA) January 14, 2022
We all have a story to tell.
You can hate.
Or you can create.
What’ll it be? pic.twitter.com/cfDGi4q0AZ
Troy Baker said in his tweet that "You can hate. Or you can create," and reactions seem to be primarily hate. In addition to the usual arguments against NFTs (commonly prone to scams, art theft, and are bad for the environment,) a major concern about Voice NFTs is that they may undercut those trying to enter the voice acting industry. Why hire new talent when you can use an AI-generated voice to fill in any voice roles you would need done?
There's also the inevitable possibility of someone using a Voice NFT to make a voice actor sound like they said something highly offensive when they really haven't. VoiceVerse NFT mentioned in their thread that they are working on moving from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake to make their NFTs more eco-friendly, but at this time they are still using the more ecologically damaging proof of work methodology.
