Every Story Starts with a Person
Long before Alex Lee was experimenting with AI voice, he was a kid making LEGO stop-motion films and Minecraft videos simply because he loved creating.
That curiosity eventually grew into a passion for animation, filmmaking, and visual storytelling. Today, as a business and art student with a background in fine arts, Alex blends traditional artistic principles with modern digital tools to tell stories that explore isolation, connection, and the emotions that make us human.
While technology continues to reshape creative workflows, Alex's philosophy has remained remarkably consistent:
"We, as human artists, are the input of emotion."
For him, AI isn't the artist.
It's another tool that helps artists bring their vision to life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12LnH1QikDE
Learning to Tell the Stories You Know
One project has stayed with Alex through years of creative growth: Neil vs. Self-Respect, a Webtoon inspired by his own journey toward confidence and self-respect.
Interestingly, that wasn't always the plan.
The story originally centered around supernatural themes and the afterlife. But after coming across Bryan Lee O'Malley's advice to "write what you know," Alex took the project in a completely different direction. Instead of fantasy, he focused on something much more personal - the emotions, relationships, and experiences that shaped his own teenage years.
That shift became the heart of the project.
Rather than escaping reality, Neil vs. Self-Respect aims to help readers feel a little less alone by telling a story rooted in experiences many people quietly share.
Finding a Character's Voice Before They Exist
As Alex began creating more dialogue-driven stories, he noticed something surprising.
The way a character sounds can completely change the way they're written.
A design might suggest someone confident and intimidating, but if the voice feels too soft, the dialogue suddenly stops feeling authentic. Sometimes, hearing a character speak reveals problems that aren't obvious on the page.
That's where Fish Audio became part of his creative process.
Using the Voice Design feature, Alex generates voices based on a character's appearance and personality, then uses those voices to test dialogue long before animation begins. If something doesn't feel right, he rewrites the dialogue until the character's voice and personality finally align.
Rather than treating AI voice as the final step of production, Alex uses it during the writing stage, helping characters become more believable before they're ever brought to life on screen.
As he puts it:
"If it sounds right to the ear, it sounds right on the page."
Technology Should Support Creativity, Not Replace It
Throughout our conversation, one idea surfaced again and again.
AI should remain a tool.
Alex believes there will always be a place for talented voice actors, and whenever creators have the time and budget, working with real performers brings something irreplaceable to a project.
But creative work doesn't always begin at the finish line.
Whether it's testing dialogue, building storyboards, or developing characters during pre-production, AI voice can help creators move faster while keeping the creative vision firmly in the artist's hands.
That philosophy also extends to responsible AI use.
Alex encourages creators to understand the ethical side of generative AI, from copyright and intellectual property to respecting the work of other artists. For him, better technology doesn't make artistic fundamentals less important—it makes them even more valuable.
Creating Through Connection
Outside of his own projects, Alex has contributed animation to USC Onion Skin's recent short films, experiences that challenged him to grow alongside other talented artists.
Some of his favorite moments weren't awards or milestones.
They were hearing audiences laugh at a carefully animated scene, learning compositing techniques from fellow animators, and realizing how much there still is to learn.
Those experiences reinforced another belief that shapes Alex's work today:
Great storytelling comes from living.
Spending time with friends, meeting new people, observing conversations, and paying attention to everyday life all become part of the creative process. Those experiences eventually find their way into the stories we tell.
Looking Ahead
Alex continues developing Neil vs. Self-Respect, with plans to expand the series into a Kindle eBook and continue creating stories that resonate with people navigating loneliness, connection, and personal growth.
His goal isn't simply to build a bigger audience.
It's to create work that people genuinely connect with.
Because in the end, that's what storytelling has always meant to him.
Helping someone else feel seen.
Final Thoughts
AI continues to open new possibilities for creators, but Alex's approach offers an important perspective.
Technology can help accelerate the creative process.
It can help creators experiment, iterate, and discover new ideas.
But the emotion, intention, and vision behind every story still come from the artist.
Or, in Alex's own words:
"You are the artist, and AI should remain the brush."
It's a simple philosophy, but one that reflects exactly how Alex approaches his work—using technology not to replace creativity, but to tell more human stories.
