Shin Hyunjin, CEO of HudsonAI, Develops 'Acting TTS'
Reduces Costs by 90% Compared to Traditional Voice Actor Dubbing
Dramatically Shortens Production Time
Dubbing is an essential element for content to reach a global audience, as it enables communication with viewers in various languages. However, the costs and manpower required are significant. To dub a single series, 50 to 60 people, including voice actors and sound engineers, are needed, and the process takes several weeks. Even global online video services (OTT) find this burden considerable.
This high-cost structure is now facing change. Recently, several companies have begun pioneering new paths for dubbing by utilizing artificial intelligence (AI). At the center is HudsonAI, which has introduced its 'Acting TTS (Text to Speech)' technology.
Shin Hyunjin, CEO of HudsonAI, said in an interview with Asia Economy, "The acting technology can intricately reproduce the unique vocal characteristics, intonation, and pitch of each actor in multiple languages, even when there are many characters." She added, "Compared to traditional voice actor dubbing, costs can be reduced by more than 90%, and the production time can also be dramatically shortened."
Of course, AI is not yet perfect. It especially struggles to naturally express lines that contain complex emotions. To address this, CEO Shin introduced a 'guide recording' method. She explained, "When a voice actor performs with emotion in a foreign language, the AI learns and mimics it. The system also provides a function that matches the actor's lip movements in the video, based not only on the voice but also on scripts automatically extracted."
AI dubbing also delivers overwhelming results in terms of time savings. CEO Shin stated, "For a 90-minute film, it takes at least four weeks for a voice actor to record, but AI can complete it in three days. Even including pre-production and review, two weeks is sufficient."
HudsonAI also possesses a 'Voice Conversion System.' This technology converts a recorded voice into another person's voice, using the same principle as the AI cover songs that have recently gained popularity on YouTube.
This sophisticated technology has already entered the commercialization stage. English-dubbed versions of films such as "Honest Candidate 2," "Paul 600 Meters," and the children's animation "Hello Carbot" have been serviced through SK Broadband. An SK Broadband representative said, "Viewers could hardly tell the difference between regular dubbing and AI dubbing. The high level of completion means that production time and manpower can be further reduced in the future."
CEO Shin said, "We are expanding the range of emotional expression and optimizing the workflow to achieve dubbing quality that approaches the level of human adjustment. As AI technology advances further, interactive services that enable emotional conversations, like in the movie 'Her' (2013), will also become possible."
The government also expects AI dubbing to accelerate the global expansion of K-content. It sees this as the key to globalization and has recently launched the 'AI Dubbing Specialized K-FAST Expansion Support' project.
The response from the media industry is also positive. One industry insider predicted, "We will be able to steadily target the European and Latin American markets, where dubbing has long been preferred over subtitles." Another insider said, "If media companies generate revenue overseas through this initiative, AI dubbing systems will naturally and stably take root as well."
CEO Shin emphasized, "The key to globalizing content lies in localization. If large-scale investment like Netflix is not feasible, it must be achieved through rational technologies such as AI dubbing."
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