Scientists use AI to revive Edith Piaf’s voice so she can ‘narrate’ her own biopic

Eddy Piaf’s rich tones will once again delight music lovers as she stars in her own biopic – despite having been dead for more than 60 years.

The artificial intelligence recreation of Piaf’s clear voice will be used to narrate “Piaf,” an upcoming film about her troubled life.

Scientists from Warner Music Group trained artificial intelligence on hundreds of Piaf’s recordings, some of which are more than 80 years old, to “revive” Piaf’s voice and image.

Animation will be used alongside archival footage to tell the story of Piaf’s rise to become an icon, including some previously unknown aspects.

Julie Feeley, who conceived the idea for the film, says this “will help bring her story into the 21st century.”

“Piaf” will contain animation as well as archival footage of interviews, performances and personal footage telling the story of one of France’s most famous musicians.

“It has been my greatest honor to work alongside Edith Properties,” said Feeley.

“Our goal is to leverage the latest advances in animation and technology to bring the timeless story to audiences of all ages.”

While the film will include some original recordings of famous Piaf songs, such as “La Vie en Rose” and “Non, Je ne riserete rien,” the rest of the narrative will be created entirely by artificial intelligence.

“It was a special and moving experience to be able to hear Edith’s voice again – the technology made us feel like we were back in the room with her,” said Catherine Glavas and Christy Lum, executors of Edith Piaf’s estate.

The film is currently in the proof-of-concept stage and Warner Music Group has partnered with production company Seriously Happy to develop the film to completion.

Piaf was born in 1915, the daughter of an acrobat and a singer, but her musical talents quickly raised her fame and recognition in France and abroad.

Set between the 1920s and the 1960s, the film charts the story of Piaf’s rise from humble beginnings to one of the most beloved French artists of all time.

Born in 1915, the daughter of an acrobat and a singer, she is said to have been left with her grandmother, who ran a brothel, while her parents traveled to perform.

However, her musical career began as a young girl when her father realized that he could make more money if he brought the young Edith with him on stage.

Piaf became famous in the 1940s until the outbreak of World War II put her career on hold.

During the war, she was accused of collaborating with the Nazis because of her performances in German concentration camps for French prisoners of war.

But photographs taken of prisoners with Piaf were returned to Paris and used to manufacture false papers and passports to help the prisoners regain their freedom.

Resistance leaders also later confirmed that Piaf used these tours to smuggle maps and compasses to prisoners of war to aid in their escape plans.

After three different car accidents, Piaf became addicted to morphine and eventually died in 1963 at the age of 47.

Hundreds of audio recordings of Piaf have been used to train artificial intelligence that will digitally reproduce them to narrate the upcoming film about her life

“Edith is one of France’s greatest ever artists, and remains a source of great pride for the French people,” said Alain Vail, CEO of Warner Music France.

“It is a delicate balancing act when combining new technology with heritage artists, and it was essential for us to work closely with Edith’s estate and treat this project with the utmost respect.”

This isn’t the first time artificial intelligence has been used to revive a prominent character for a post-comedy performance.

In 2022, Andy Warhol’s voice was digitally recreated to narrate a Netflix documentary called The Andy Warhol Diaries.

Actor Bill Irwin’s voice has been transformed into Warhol’s voice through the use of artificial intelligence, almost 40 years after his death.

Meanwhile, the rights to use the voice of actor and audiobook narrator Edward Herrmann have been signed to artificial intelligence company DeepZen Ltd with his family’s permission.

A decade after his death, Hermann’s voice was once again used to narrate many modern audio books.

The announcement also comes after actors union SAG-AFTRA reached an agreement with studios to halt the advancement of artificial intelligence in the film industry.

Half of current jobs will be lost to AI within 15 years

Kai-Fu Lee, author of Artificial Intelligence Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order, told Dailymail.com that the world of employment is facing a crisis “similar to that faced by farmers during the Industrial Revolution.”

One of China’s top AI experts has warned that half of current jobs will be taken over by AI within 15 years.

Kai-Fu Lee, author of the best-selling book Artificial Intelligence Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley and the New World Order, told the Daily Mail that the world of employment is facing a crisis “similar to that faced by farmers during the Industrial Revolution”.

“People are not fully aware of the impact that AI will have on their jobs,” he said.

Li, a venture capitalist in China who headed Google in the region, has more than 30 years of experience in artificial intelligence.

He believes it is necessary to “warn people that displacement is coming, and tell them how they can start retraining.”

Fortunately, he said, all is not lost for humanity.

“AI is powerful and adaptable, but it cannot do everything humans do.”

Lee believes that AI cannot create, visualize, or do complex strategic planning, or perform complex work that requires precise hand-eye coordination.

He also says he is weak at dealing with unknown and unorganized spaces.

Most importantly, he says AI cannot interact with humans “just like humans,” through empathy, human-to-human communication, and compassion.