Ai Kobayashi is a Japanese actress and voice actress affiliated with the talent agency Ohsawa Jimusho. She was born on May 25, 1973, in Adachi, Tokyo. Kobayashi began her entertainment career in the early 1990s, initially with aspirations of becoming a film actress before transitioning to stage performance and then voice acting.

Kobayashi's career encompasses a wide range of roles in television animation, animated films, video games, and Japanese-language dubs of foreign media. She is known for her versatility, portraying both strong, action-oriented characters and more introspective roles.

Her filmography includes several of the roles specified. She voices the title character in the television anime series Rinshi!! Ekoda-chan. In the series Detroit Metal City, she is the voice of the Death Records Manager. She also voiced the character Deunan Knute in the Appleseed animated film series, including Appleseed (2004) and Appleseed: Ex Machina (2007), for which she also provided facial motion capture. Her role in the 2002 Crayon Shin-chan film, Crayon Shin-chan: Arashi o Yobu Appare! Sengoku Daikassen, is as the character Harui Ren. In the Mushishi franchise, she plays the role of Tanyuu Karibusa in the television series and the special episode Mushishi Tokubetsu-hen: Hihamukage.

Beyond these specific credits, Kobayashi has had a number of other prominent voice roles. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, she appeared in major mecha and science fiction series such as Lily Borjano in Turn A Gundam (1999) and Sara Kodama in Overman King Gainer (2002). She also voiced the characters The Infant and Hakudoshi in the long-running series Inuyasha and its sequel, Inuyasha: The Final Act. Additional notable anime roles include Viblis in Pretty Cure Max Heart (2005), Mayahuel in Ergo Proxy (2006), and Tsurune Hanamichi in Delicious Party Pretty Cure (2022).

In addition to her work in anime, Kobayashi has an extensive career in voice-over for video games and foreign film dubbing. A significant video game role is providing the Japanese voice of Samus Aran in Metroid: Other M (2010). Her dubbing work includes voicing Megan Burnett in the Japanese version of Bad Boys for Life (2020) and Cheong-san's mother in the live-action series All of Us Are Dead (2022).

Kobayashi is also an accomplished stage actress and narrator, having appeared in numerous theatrical productions and provided narration for television programs and commercials.