While artificial intelligence is no doubt creating opportunities for creatives to speed up their workflow and simplify the creative process, many are worried about widespread AI adoption might mean for their livelihoods.
So much so that voice actors from the video game industry went on strike last week to protest the looming threat of being replaced by AI.
2,500 members of media collective SAG-AFTRA – including high-profile voice actor Jennifer Hale – are striking until the games divisions of companies like Activision, Warner Brothers, Walt Disney and EA agree to instate protections surrounding the use of AI, per BBC News.
You might remember the high-profile 118-day actors strike organised by SAG-AFTRA last year, which was eventually resolved after mutually agreed-upon terms were reached. Such an agreement on artificial intelligence is yet to be reached for video games, hence the nature of this recent strike.
The concern is over the fact that it’s becoming simpler and simpler to clone someone’s voice using AI, create entirely new works mimicking said person’s voice, and due to the limited legislation currently in place, fail to compensate that voice actor accordingly.
Jennifer Hale tells BBC News: “They could, for example, take all my performances in a game, let’s say Mass Effect, feed them into a machine, not too long down the timeline, spit out an entirely new Mass Effect, with a performance that was entirely generated by AI.”
Because the gaming industry is so lucrative in this day and age – it’s estimated to generate $189bn (£147bn) revenue by the end of 2024 alone – Hale says profits are trumping the rights of voice actors.
“They see that the work of our souls is nothing more than a commodity to generate profits for them,” she says. “They don’t see that they’re crushing human beings beneath their feet in blind pursuit of money and profit, it’s disgusting.”
And while Hale is one of the more successful video game voice actors, she acknowledges the disparity in pay between those in her craft and film and TV actors.
“I’m a single working mother who has bills to pay and a life to provide for my kid, as voice actors we don’t get paid star salaries,” she adds. “Under what they’re proposing on the other side of this contract, they would pay me nothing.”
Audrey Cooling, a representative for the 10 gaming companies negotiating the union, adds: “Our offer is directly responsive to SAG-AFTRA’s concerns and extends meaningful AI protections that include requiring consent and fair compensation to all performance working under the IMA [Interactive Media Agreement].”
Learn more about SAG-AFTRA’s video game strike at its official website.
