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Netflix says it will use AI<\/b>, external<\/span><\/a> to recreate the voice of the late Gene Wilder in a new reality TV series set in the world of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.<\/b><\/p>\n Wonka’s The Golden Ticket will feature an AI-generated version of Wilder, who played the eccentric chocolatier in the 1971 film.<\/p>\n The actor appears with the consent of his estate following his death in 2016, with the voice replicated by AI audio firm ElevenLabs.<\/p>\n While Wilder’s wife Karen B. Wilder said she was “delighted” the series “celebrates the imagination” he brought to the role, some fans questioned the decision, describing it as “disrespectful, external<\/span><\/a>” and “a plastic substitute, external<\/span><\/a>“.<\/p>\n “In the end, it still sounds like every robotic AI voice you have heard,” said one less-than-impressed commenter, external<\/span><\/a> on social media.<\/p>\n Others jokingly drew comparisons to the disastrous “Willy’s Chocolate Experience”<\/a> event in Glasgow in 2024, which went viral for dramatically failing to deliver on its promises.<\/p>\n “Perhaps the Wonka experience was better than this (not that it’s saying much),” one posted, external<\/span><\/a>, alongside a drab picture of the event.<\/p>\n Netflix said Wonka’s Golden Ticket would attempt to recreate – at least in look and feel – the story of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s book, with contestants taking part in “a series of Wonka’s temptations and challenges” for a final prize.<\/p>\n But the announcement follows a number of other attempts to bring back the voices of former entertainment stars using AI.<\/p>\n