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Video Game Actors Are Going On Strike For AI Protections

Motion capture artists and voice performers are out of the studio and hitting the streets

The ongoing problem of AI use in performative and artistic industries continues to loom, with no surprise that the industry with a great deal of overlap between human performance and art would need to address it sooner or later.

Members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) voted in 2023 in favour of a strike to communicate a concern of how some big game companies were moving to make use of methods in training AI or creating AI-generated copies of performers for future use, with little regard for the performers ongoing need to work.

That strike starts on July 26 at 12:01 a.m.

In a statement to gaming journalism outlet Aftermath, SAG-AFTRA national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said the following:

The video game industry generates billions of dollars in profit annually. The driving force behind that success is the creative people who design and create those games. That includes the SAG-AFTRA members who bring memorable and beloved game characters to life, and they deserve and demand the same fundamental protections as performers in film, television, streaming, and music: fair compensation and the right of informed consent for the AI use of their faces, voices, and bodies. Frankly, it’s stunning that these video game studios haven’t learned anything from the lessons of last year – that our members can and will stand up and demand fair and equitable treatment with respect to AI, and the public supports us in that.

Figures are being shared that show that roughly 2,600 voice actors and motion capture artists have been working with an Interactive Media Agreement since November of 2022 – and some of these artists are titans within the gaming space, such as Troy Baker (of The Last of Us fame) and Jennifer Hale (of Mass Effect).

Within SAG-AFTRA’s statement, many companies are directly named as requiring negotiating, including:

  • Activision Productions Inc.
  • Blindlight LLC
  • Disney Character Voices Inc.
  • Electronic Arts Productions Inc.
  • Formosa Interactive LLC
  • Insomniac Games Inc.
  • Llama Productions LLC
  • Take 2 Productions Inc.
  • VoiceWorks Productions Inc.
  • WB Games Inc.

That is a hefty portion of the AAA gaming industry right there.

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher stated that the abuse of AI systems within companies is an open detriment to performers, impacting their ability to make a living and thrive.

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We’re not going to consent to a contract that allows companies to abuse A.I. to the detriment of our members. Enough is enough. When these companies get serious about offering an agreement our members can live — and work — with, we will be here, ready to negotiate.

Eighteen months of negotiations have lead to this outcome, being the nuclear option – as employers up until this point had not seem to be interested in any reasonable A.I. protections. Every day more stories are coming out about how the use of AI tools feels like a siren song for money making, given how they embody the idealised concept of cheap labour.

Negotiating committee chair Sarah Elmaleh is at least optimistic about the purpose of the strike, making it known that everyone is willing to sit down and figure this out:

We look forward to collaborating with teams on our Interim and Independent contracts, which provide A.I. transparency, consent and compensation to all performers, and to continuing to negotiate in good faith with this bargaining group when they are ready to join us in the world we all deserve.

Here’s hoping something ironclad can be worked out to ensure that the folks who bring video games to live in so many ways are protected to do so for many more years to come.

For more information and to search whether a video game is struck, please visit sagaftra.org/videogamestrike.

Written By Ash Wayling

Known throughout the interwebs simply as M0D3Rn, Ash is bad at video games. An old guard gamer who suffers from being generally opinionated, it comes as no surprise that he is both brutally loyal and yet, fiercely whimsical about all things electronic. On occasion will make a youtube video that actually gets views. Follow him on YouTube @Bad at Video Games

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