US video game actors are on strike over AI concerns

SAG-AFTRA, an American union that protects the rights of actors, voice actors, and other performers, have begun a strike this week against several major video game publishers after the parties involved have not been able to reach an agreement about the use of AI in games. Discussions over video game performer’s rights began in 2022, and no deal has been reached in that time. In 2023, members of the union voted to authorise a strike if the need arose, and that time is now.

SAG-AFTRA says that it has been able to reach an agreement with major companies on the majority of concerns, but the exception has been the use of AI tech. Currently, no contractual protections exist that would prevent a publisher from using AI to replicate and modify an actor’s voice or physical appearance without their consent or providing fair compensation. Concerns are that actors will not have control over how their likeness is utilised, and that the use of AI will diminish the work available for actors. Not only used for the creation of dialogue and voice performances, AI can also be used to modify existing voicework instead of calling the actor back for another take.

The strike officially began on 26 July 2024 when SAG-AFRA received the companies’ most recent counter-offer. The companies struck are Activision, Blindlight, Disney Character Voices International, EA, Formosa Interactive, Insomniac Games, Llama Productions, Take 2 Productions, VoiceWorks Productions, and WB Games. Members of the SAG-AFTRA union cannot work on projects made by these companies, and non-union performers are strongly encouraged to follow suit in solidarity.

A spokesperson for the companies responded in a statement: “Our offer is directly responsive to SAG-AFTRA’s concerns and extends meaningful AI protections that include requiring consent and fair compensation to all performers working under the IMA. These terms are among the strongest in the entertainment industry.” Details of the offer’s protections against AI misuse have not been disclosed, but SAG-AFTRA representative Sarah Elmaleh called the counter-offer “dangerously incomplete”, explaining that one of the loopholes in the offer meant that while companies could not train an AI on an actor themselves, the AI could be trained on any role that actor had portrayed in the past. “There are as many AI loopholes… as there are characters that a person has played.”