You can "speak" with artificial intelligence speaking in the voice of James Earl Jones' Darth Vader in FORTNITE

If there's one thing we can all agree on, it's that James Earl Jones had a great voice. And James Earl Jones' Darth Vader voice is one of the most magnificent of them all. This voice will ALWAYS be associated with the terrible leader of the dark side in Star Wars.

Before his death, when he finally retired, James Earl Jones granted Disney the rights to recreate his voice as Darth Vaderthrough AI in future Star Wars projects. The first instance of Jones' voice being recreated by AI occurred in Obi-Wan Kenobi, where Disney and Lucasfilm used Respeecher to create Vader's sound.

And now Disney will once again use generative AI to bring the voice of James Earl Jones' Darth Vader to life, this time in Fortnite. However, this time the voice of Darth Vader James Earl Jones will not just recite prepared lines, but will actually “talk” to the players.

Unsurprisingly, this has already gone wrong, resulting in the voice of James Earl Jones' Darth Vader swearing and using other obscenities. You can watch the clip below.

Before we dive into everything that seems/could go wrong with this idea. Here's the gist of what's really going on. In a blog post, Disney and Epic Games shared the following about using AI to bring James Earl Jones' Darth Vader back to life. “Darth Vader would not be nearly as sinister without the legendary performance of James Earl Jones, who voiced Vader in the Star Wars films.” We are honored to present the voice of the late Mr. Jones, and we thank his heirs for the opportunity to make this possible for the players.”The post also includes a message from the family of James Earl Jones, which states: “James Earl felt that Darth Vader's voice was integral to the Star Wars story, and he always wanted fans of all ages to continue to experience it. We hope this collaboration with Fortnite will allow longtime Darth Vader fans and new generations alike to share in the fun of this iconic character."

But how would “talking” to Jones' Vader via AI actually work? Fortnite notes: “Strategize with a high Sith Lord. Voice. And it will answer you using conversational AI. Darth Vader has once again landed as a boss in Battle Royale, replacing Darth Vader Samurai. Be the first to recruit him and your entire team can take turns talking to the Dark Lord. Just remember to press the special Darth Vader button that appears to talk to him. Ask him all your burning questions about the Force, the Galactic Empire... or, you know, a good strategy for the last round of the Storm. The Sith Lord has his own opinion."

As mentioned, we're going to give this a big hrm... While we're glad that James Earl Jones actually gave his own free consent to have Disney recreate his Darth Vader voice using AI, it's also worth noting that AI has evolved A LOT since 2022, when he gave his consent. We also commend his family's involvement in this matter. But even so, the idea that users could talk to James Earl Jones' Darth Vader and generative AI could generate anything in response is a little unsettling—even beyond the usual concerns of ethics and morality. And, as we see above, this is already happening.

In the FAQ, Fortnite notes that users can report anything Darth Vader says.They notice the question: “Can I report something Darth Vader is saying?” And they answer: “Yes. You can do this in Darth Vader's voice chat channel or by submitting a bug report. This is separate from the voice report.” This FAQ seems to hint that Fortnite has some speculation that James Earl Jones' Darth Vader AI voice might have something to say that's worth reporting. And we're not sure we like it very much.

Epic Games partner Shiina additionally reports that "Darth Vader's AI is NOT allowed to enter into romantic relationships with players." But... well, we saw how the swearing went.

Fortnite has not yet released an updated statement. Let's see what happens next.