This Is a Weird Time for the Popularization of SpongeBob AI
If your social media feeds are anything like mine, you’ve probably seen a number of videos over the last couple of months showcasing SpongeBob and Co.’s singing talents. Of course, these videos aren’t actually featuring the talents of their voice actors—they are, instead, using AI.
Many of these videos just take pre-existing content and slap any character’s AI-replicated voice over them, including this very topical piece of “music”:
Meanwhile, similar to the Seinfeld AI streams, they’ve got full SpongeBob AI streams going on that often get into unpredictable territory. A friend sent me this during ungodly morning hours, and my 4AM self felt like I was still in a dream haze when I watched this:
But perhaps the most used piece of audio I’ve seen passed around has been, specifically, Patrick Star’s very emotive (for a robot) cover of Martin Sapp’s “Never Would’ve Made It.”
Originally, I didn’t plan to write about all of this, if only because trends on TikTok and IG tend to blow over fairly quickly. However, this trend has persisted, with some artists creating entirely new raps using the AI voices and fine-tuning them to best match the original voice actors’ particular strengths and ranges. And to me, it’s all just incredibly strange, because there’s a topical coalescing going on here that doesn’t seem to know it’s coalescing.
On the one hand, all of this reminds me so strongly of the internet I grew up in: an internet that was pretty silly and cavalier and didn’t take a lot of stock of what it was doing. I only ever see people enjoying SpongeAI content, and just like the internet I grew up in, god forbid you take away people’s fun.
As well as this, on the surface, SpongeAI is reminiscent of the sort of things we wanted AI to be—just good fun, and nothing else. With the shallowest look inwards, SpongeAI is just Vocaloid with SpongeBob characters, and if this were any other time, maybe it would be that innocuous.
However, getting to the other hand, we’re living in a time when both AI and the rights of actors are clashing, with AI standing very firmly on the wrong side of history. When attempting to negotiate with the AMPTP, members of SAG-AFTRA were horrified and repulsed by the fact that major studio executives were determined to go ahead with their AI plans, which included scanning the faces and bodies of actors at all levels in order to recreate projects without having to hire (and therefore pay) these actors any more than a one-time fee. Now, SAG is striking, because what do you know? People prefer having creative and bodily autonomy.
This also applies to voice actors, whose voices have been rampantly used for various projects they didn’t consent to, largely for online projects. Our Kimberly Terasaki has been excellent in reporting the various sketchy ways people have been using AI to replicate VA voices without explicit consent, and how these VAs have been trying to push back against this. Most recently, Jennifer Hale—yes, our beloved Commander Shepard—discovered that her voice for Avatar Kyoshi in Avatar: The Last Airbender was being recreated via AI for a fan project.
Her response was this:
And while some might still push back against this sort of statement in the name of the aforementioned “all in good fun, this is my internet” mentality, ultimately, one only has to tap into their barest sense of empathy in order to understand why VAs are so concerned about these new AI trends. VAs do their work because they love it. In order to continue doing their work, they need to have work, and this work needs to pay. And as fun as AI might seem, its modern developments have ultimately proven to be an obstruction to the pursuit (and persistence) of authentic creative endeavors.
Now, I peeked around and couldn’t see any of the SpongeBob cast saying anything against this kind of AI work. However, that doesn’t mean my prior points don’t stand, or that Hale’s frustrations don’t hold any weight just because other VAs haven’t weighed in. It also doesn’t mean that these actors support SpongeAI; if anything, they’re probably busy striking. I know that’s certainly the case for Roger Clark, the VA for Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2.
“If you keep sharing this rubbish, I promise you, sooner than you think it’ll be all you have left.” PREACH, Mr. Clark!
And look, I’m not trying to be a fun-killer. When these trends first started popping up at the beginning of 2023, I found some of them funny, too. In particular, the Morrowind and Half-Life recreations tickled me. But the fact of the matter is that AI has proven itself to be a tool for executives to phase out genuine creative work, and therefore even just casual usage isn’t just for fun and games anymore. The point at which it will be just fun and games is the point at which actors, writers, artists, and beyond no longer have to worry about their jobs and passions being usurped by unbridled, unrefined technology.
Maybe this is all just a case of woefully atrocious timing, but alas, I cannot enjoy Patrick Star’s sermons until I see our VAs get better pay and protections. Just remember, we wouldn’t even have Patrick Star without Bill Fagerbakke’s original contributions. Be respectful, be cool, and don’t be a SCAB, or else he’ll come for you just like he did in Jennifer’s Body:
(featured image: Nickelodeon)
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