At the beginning of each episode of Goliath, the well-crafted, three-part Showtime and Religion of Sports docuseries on legendary hoops star Wilt Chamberlain that premieres this Friday, there’s a disclaimer.
“Wilt Chamberlain’s voice in this series is created using an A.I. program with the permission of the Wilt Chamberlain estate. Wilt’s words have been composed of quotations of his written work and public statements,” the statement reads.
Other interesting filmmaking tactics have been utilized before to voice departed legends. An ESPN documentary on former Raiders owner Al Davis and former NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle used deepfake technology a couple of years ago, while a Marlon Brando documentary made use of more than 300 hours of audiotapes the actor had recorded over the years. (The entirety of the Brando doc is in his own words.)
