AI Threatens Striking U.S. Video Game Actors Jobs

Striking video game voice actors and motion-capture performers held their first picket on Thursday in front of Warner Bros. Games and said artificial intelligence was a threat to their professions

Leeanna Albanese, the voice actor and strike commander of “Persona 5 Tactica,” informed Reuters on the picket line that the models they are employing were trained on our voices without our consent and without any compensation.

Last week, motion-capture performers and voice actors from video games initiated a strike in response to the unsuccessful negotiations of a labor contract that centered on safeguards for workers related to artificial intelligence.

This is the most recent strike in Hollywood, and it opens a new tab after union writers and actors marched on the picket lines last year, with AI also being a significant concern.

“I believe that the human element is absent from any interactive project, whether it be a video game, TV show, animated series, or movie, and AI is substituted for the human element, we can discern the difference.” Jeff Leach, the British actor who starred in “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare & Warzone,” stated, “I am a gamer and a consumer of this content.”

Following months of negotiations with major videogame companies, such as Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Take-Two Interactive, Disney Character Voices, Warner Bros. Discovery’s WB Games, and Activision Productions, the decision to strike was made.

Nevertheless, analysts have predicted that the strike will not have a significant impact on major video game publishers, such as Electronic Arts and Take-Two, because of their in-house studios and the extended development cycles for their titles.

The strike also serves as a broader call to action for Hollywood, as members of the industry advocate for legislation that can safeguard them from the dangers associated with artificial intelligence.

“The NO FAKES Act is essentially legislation that aims to safeguard our identities and personhood on a national scale, rather than on a state level, as there is no larger national law to protect us,” Albanese stated.

The SAG-AFTRA performers union, the Motion Picture Association, The Recording Academy, and Disney have all expressed their support for the NO FAKES Act, a bipartisan bill in Congress that would prohibit the creation of an AI replica of an individual’s visage and voice without their consent.

From Grammy-winning artist Taylor Swift to Vice President Kamala Harris, who is currently running in the 2024 presidential election, leaders in entertainment and beyond have expressed concern regarding the urgent policy issue of deep fakes generated by AI.

“At the picket line, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the national executive director and chief negotiator of SAG-AFTRA, stated to Reuters that every individual in this country requires protection from the abusive use of AI.”