Hollywood’s video game actors and workers are heading to the Warner Bros. Studios lot on Aug. 1 amid an ongoing strike over artificial intelligence (AI) protections.
Video game performers initially went on strike on July 26 after negotiations with game industry giants came to a halt. The performers were working on a new interactive media agreement with video game publisher Activision Productions Inc., Disney Character Voices Inc., and Warner Bros. Games.
Those negotiations—which have been ongoing for more than a year and a half—paused amid a dispute over protections for voice actors and motion capture workers against the unregulated use of AI.
Game voice actors and motion capture workers are concerned that without sufficient protections in place, their likenesses could be replicated by AI and used without their consent and without fair compensation.
Concerns about ever-expanding AI use were one of the key issues in last year’s SAG-AFTRA actors strike.
That strike lasted 118 days and saw production on numerous films and television shows come to an abrupt halt.
Contract Must Include AI Protections, Workers Say
In a statement at the time, SAG-AFTRA leaders said that while agreements have been reached on many issues of key importance to SAG-AFTRA members such as wages and other protections, the companies “refuse to plainly affirm, in clear and enforceable language,” that they will protect all performers covered by the contract in their language surrounding AI.“We’re not going to consent to a contract that allows companies to abuse A.I. to the detriment of our members,” stated SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher. “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.”
SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, who is also leading the contract negotiations, noted the video game industry generates billions of dollars in profit every year.
“The driving force behind that success is the creative people who design and create those games,” Crabtree-Ireland said.
“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 A.I. use of their faces, voices, and bodies.”
Other game industry giants involved in negotiations with workers include Blindlight LLC, Electronic Arts Productions Inc., Formosa Interactive LLC, Insomniac Games Inc., Llama Productions LLC, Take 2 Productions Inc., and VoiceWorks Productions Inc.
