AI meets Traditional Culture
I attended Kabuki in Tokyo recently and learned English translations are now spoken by AI generated voices. Gone are the days of the "old fashioned" way of talking - human voice. Cost savings? It's hard to know.
Like all businesses dependent on revenue, organizations do what is needed to make ends meet and stay alive. The pandemic surely hit the world of traditional theater (Kabuki, Noh, etc.) particularly hard. The result seems to be cutting corners to survive. Why pay human translators and voice professionals money when you can get the same result applying technology for almost nothing? I get it. A sign of the times? Perhaps.
Listening through my headset, I was astonished to hear the AI voice get things wrong. The pronunciation of certain Japanese words was appalling. For instance, "arashi" (or 'storm' in English) was spoken like a beginning language student that has not mastered Japanese "r's" with excellence yet. An overseas tourist visiting Japan for the first time might not notice (or even care), but for those who know the difference, it was hard to listen to.
Then there is the issue of narration of the play in terms of content and context. Here, too, the AI version missed the mark. I have a friend who has been translating Kabuki from Japanese to English since 1982 who also attended the same performance. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Human commentators provided live commentary. These recorded versions are dumbed down". Again, for those who don't know or care, no big deal. But for those who really know traditional Kabuki, much is lost in translation.
Will technology advance to the point where pronunciation is like that of a native speaker in the near future? Probably. But in the meantime, I suppose we must get used to it. Like bumps in the road, they become less noticeable after a while.
Sales Engineering coach; Go-to-Market and Sales Insights specialist
1 年Cost cutting only leads to more cost cutting. I wonder if they've investigated why, outside of "coronavirus" or "no tourists for x years" they may be struggling. Perhaps tourists coming now don't know about the show, how to buy tickets, or reserve in advance online so it becomes part of their holiday plans, etc. I know purchasing tickets to performances in Japan is already a complex process (and one where they've even started locking out foreign tourists from buying tickets to reserve tickets for people living in Japan, enforcing QR codes and using Japan App Store specific apps or having a Japanese mobile phone number to get a second factor code to prove you live in Japan...). Using a technology like AI to implement a half assed solution to save some dollars will only ruin the experience long term. For a performance art with so much history, you think they would treat it with more respect but, as you say, such is the times.
豊田通商株式会社 本社 - 監督部長
1 年本当に醜い。 ??
Teacher in Japanese and its Culture (Advanced Course) at WEA Sydney from Jan. 2020
1 年AI might express reasonable performance on stages, but I assume they can't perform real, human Kabuki actors' excellent plays. It'll be Cheap Replacement for real actors! When it comes to Japanese polished, highly trained arts (and art), the real human performers have historical intelligence, trainings and education with sense of missions to teach the heritage for the continuity and humanity. Families' generations of a few hundred of years are for the continuity and excellence. It's about souls and passion to teach to people about the Japanese society, its civilisation, various love, honour, justice, culture of samurai, human truths (eg. Beauty, weakness, strength, humbleness, shame, courage, comradeship, Miracles!) and importantly, 義理 と人情, "giri -to ninjou", i.e. obligations and compassion. Such made Japan/its society uniquely strong and highly disciplined, communal, long-term thinking and civilized. Similar to their language use! All such kept Japan/its highly populated land being well-connected, highly-educated and -informed, safe, secure and efficient. Kabuki skills include all of emotional, cognitive, physical and Spiritual. So, Kabuki is empowering and Adorable if one understands the context and what the play is for.