Actors' union SAG-AFTRA strike deal to allow AI voice replicas, and video game stars are understandably pissed

rockpapershotgun.com:

Major actors’ union SAG-AFTRA have raised hackles among a number of voice game performers after striking a deal with a company that wants to create AI replicas of actors’ voices for use in games, among other things. While the union claim that their agreement with Replica will allow for a “fair” and “ethical” approach to creating AI voices, it’s clear that a number of actors with credits in games from Baldur’s Gate 3, Mortal Kombat and Starfield to Apex Legends, World of Warcraft and Genshin Impact don’t agree.

The SAG-AFTRA announcement claimed that the “groundbreaking” deal would allow actors to licence their voice to Replica as a digital replica, allowing video game developers and other companies to recreate the vocal performance of an actor as they like for a project. Safeguards against AI - specifically in relation to digital replicas and training models - has been a central point in SAG-AFTRA’s ongoing negotiations with video game studios.

“With this agreement, we have achieved fully informed consent and fair compensation when it comes to the use of our members' voices and performances,” said SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland of the recent deal, with the union saying that the agreement offers “industry-leading protections” to actors in relation to AI.

Those protections include setting a baseline for minimum terms and conditions with regards to AI voice replicas, along with requiring actors to authorise their voice for use in such projects and negotiate around how and where their digital double is used. The agreement also allows performers to opt out of letting their AI voice be used in the future if they decide against it later on.

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