After more than 35 years of voicing some of the most beloved characters on The Simpsons, Hank Azaria is worried about his job security.
The 6x Emmy winner said that the potential ramifications of artificial intelligence “make me sad” as he penned an op-ed expressing his fears about the evolving technology making his job on the Fox animated series obsolete.
“I imagine that soon enough, artificial intelligence will be able to recreate the sounds of the more than 100 voices I created for characters on The Simpsons over almost four decades,” he wrote in the New York Times piece. “It makes me sad to think about it. Not to mention, it seems just plain wrong to steal my likeness or sound — or anyone else’s.”
Azaria continued, “In my case, AI could have access to 36 years of Moe, the permanently disgruntled bartender. He’s appeared in just about every episode of The Simpsons. He’s been terrified, in love, hit in the head and, most often, in a state of bitter hatred. I’ve laughed as Moe in dozens of ways by now. I’ve probably sighed as Moe 100 times. In terms of training AI, that’s a lot to work with.”
Despite AI’s capabilities, Azaria thinks “something will be missing” from anything created with the technology, noting it will lack “humanness.”
Jonathan Frink, Jr. (voiced by Hank Azaria) on ‘The Simpsons’ (Fox/Courtesy Everett Collection)
“There’s so much of who I am that goes into creating a voice,” he wrote. “How can the computer conjure all that? What will the lack of humanness sound like? How big will the difference be? I honestly don’t know, but I think it will be enough, at least in the near term, that we’ll notice something is off, in the same way that we notice something’s amiss in a subpar film or TV show.
“It adds up to a sense that what we’re watching isn’t real, and you don’t need to pay attention to it. Believability is earned through craftsmanship, with good storytelling and good performances, good cinematography and good directing and a good script and good music,” added Azaria.
Azaria’s op-ed comes after the Animation Guild previously ratified a three-year deal with the AMPTP in December. The agreement included AI protections, such as written notifications and the ability to consult with the production and identify alternative non-GenAI tools.
