Anthony Bourdain documentary Roadrunner used AI to re-create his voice after he died

A documentary on the late Anthony Bourdain is drawing attention for its use of artificial intelligence. A New Yorker review of Roadrunner, a documentary on late chef and travel documentarian Anthony Bourdain, is getting plenty of attention thanks to one anecdote mentioned toward the end. In the article, published Thursday, reporter Helen Rosner describes a scene in the film in which artist David Choe, a friend of Bourdain's, reads an e-mail from the late chef, who died by suicide in 2018. The scene starts with Choe's voice before transitioning to Bourdain's, which says, "and my life is sort of shit now. You are successful, and I am successful, and I'm wondering: Are you happy?" Rosner says she asked filmmaker Morgan Neville how he'd found a recording of Bourdain reading the email.