Darth Vader will feature in Star Wars films for years to come, thanks to an 'immortalising' AI technology.

James Earl Jones, the 91-year-old actor who has been the voice of Darth Vader since 1977, has reportedly agreed to have his voice synthesized by an AI so that Disney doesn't have to recast the role after he dies.

According to Vanity Fair, the aging actor agreed to let Ukrainian AI company Respeecher take past recordings of his voice and use it to create new lines for Darth Vader that sound "indistinguishable from the original speaker".

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The method was reportedly used during during the newly-released Obi-Wan Kenobi series over on Disney+.

It was used because the series needed to depict a younger Darth Vader between Star Wars Episode III and IV, and because Jones no longer wants to play the character at his age.

Jones has given the green light to archive recordings of him playing Darth Vader so that the AI company can continue to churn out convincing lines long after he's gone.

It marks yet another high-tech immortalisation of an iconic Star Wars character, after both Carrie Fisher and Peter Cushing reprised their roles in the series after their deaths.

An 'eerie' CGI version of Peter Cushing, complete with digitally reconstructed voice, appeared in Rogue One.

Meanwhile, Carrie Fisher was 'brought back' as Princess Leia in Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker, again using advanced CGI technology.

With an additional sequel trilogy reportedly planned for Star Wars, as well as a myriad of TV series and shorts coming out continually on Disney+, we could be watching artificial characters replace actors for years to come as Disney continues to milk the galaxy for all it's worth.

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Star Wars' Darth Vader will 'live forever' after being given digital AI immortality - Daily Star