Game Voice Actors and Motion Capture Performers Go On Strike

[64K]

In a 98% Yes vote of the 160,000 performers in the SAG-AFTRA union are going on strike against Activision, Take-Two, Disney and EA and refusing to perform in future games until demands are met. They are demanding protections due to the use of Generative AI. They demand:

"Fair compensation and the right of informed consent for the AI use of their faces, voices, and bodies."

They already feel that Publishers/Developers are violating their rights and fear future escalation and flagrant exploitation. The game makers in negotiation with the union say they've already offered "meaningful AI protections that include requiring consent and fair compensation," with terms that are "among the strongest in the entertainment industry," but the union disagrees.

Some agreements were reached during the past 18 months of negotiations but not enough for the Union and it's members.

SAG-AFTRA last went on strike against the same Publishers/Developers in 2016 over residuals. The last strike did have some negative effect on games but iirc not a lot.

SAG-AFTRA Members Who Work on Video Games Go on Strike

A.I. Protections Remain the Sticking Point

www.sagaftra.org

Videogame voice actors are officially on strike over AI: 'We refuse this paradigm'

SAG-AFTRA actors will refuse to work for Activision, EA, Take-Two, and other major developers.

www.pcgamer.com

 

[Bones]

I'm thinking the career of "Actor" will begin to die down (Slowly phased out) as times passes for obvious reasons and those belonging to SAG-AFTRA know it, and that's why they're making a move now before their numbers are too small later to even matter.

When that happens actors, as in people as actors will become a thing of the past.....
Well, there would always be a few around at least I'd think but as a whole (Career/industry) that ship will sail and sink.

 

[eidairaman1]

I'm thinking the career of "Actor" will begin to die down (Slowly phased out) as times passes for obvious reasons and those belonging to SAG-AFTRA know it, and that's why they're making a move now before their numbers are too small later to even matter.

When that happens actors, as in people as actors will become a thing of the past.....
Well, there would always be a few around at least I'd think but as a whole (Career/industry) that ship will sail and sink.

AI caused Daft Punk to retire in 2020, if anything they Should Fight back

 

[JWNoctis]

Wish them luck. It's livelihoods we are talking about here. The displaced weavers and blacksmiths in 1800s had other jobs to go to. I don't think that's a given anymore these days.

Maybe one day "AI-free" arts, assets, and acting would be more of a selling point than it is now.

 

[ty_ger]

I fear that by choosing to not cooperate (going on strike), they have only assured their more rapid retirement. If big publishers already want to replace them with AI, what does being harder to work with accomplish? It sure doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.
Desperation. Publishers smell the blood in the water.

 

[Hyderz]

i think AI will have its place and be used in appropriate places and application. Acting and Voice belongs rightfully to an idividual and should not be taken and replicated as the company pleases.
If this goes ahead, we will definately see more generic stuff that we all like, movie stories, music, art, designs etc. AI should be used to assist not as a replacement.

 

[AusWolf]

I'm thinking the career of "Actor" will begin to die down (Slowly phased out) as times passes for obvious reasons and those belonging to SAG-AFTRA know it, and that's why they're making a move now before their numbers are too small later to even matter.

When that happens actors, as in people as actors will become a thing of the past.....
Well, there would always be a few around at least I'd think but as a whole (Career/industry) that ship will sail and sink.

Why would actors become a thing of the past? Someone, show me anything that's made by AI and can be taken seriously.

As for the strike, good luck!

 

[Dr. Dro]

i think AI will have its place and be used in appropriate places and application. Acting and Voice belongs rightfully to an idividual and should not be taken and replicated as the company pleases.
If this goes ahead, we will definately see more generic stuff that we all like, movie stories, music, art, designs etc. AI should be used to assist not as a replacement.

This is the humane/moral thing to do, unfortunately the people in this industry are in for a rough awakening. Many professions have come and gone over the years, and even though the profession of storyteller has been around since primordial times (it's about as old as the "world's oldest profession" - it literally dates to hunters and gatherers around a campfire), there's a web of complexity involved that make it so there is perfect business sense in replacing voice actors for digital media with an AI-powered text to speech engine that is capable of replicating emotion, intonation, accents, and realistic voice ranges.

They won't go on strike, there are no unions and no talent agencies to deal with, they won't decline positions they don't agree with, they don't have to be scheduled, shortening development times, and licensing such an engine would most definitely be cheaper than keeping VAs on hand and dealing with their schedule issues (thus pumping out content faster and increasing profits) - from a business perspective, they're almost a dying breed, and it's up to us gamers to stand up for the folks in this industry by utterly rejecting the use of these AI engines in our video games.

Why do you think AI is a multi-trillion-dollar industry? Because it's set to replace most professions. That's it! It's the only reason why so many mega-corporations and international conglomerates are so invested into it. They'll replace all jobs that can be automated by AI subroutines. A lot of people would call me crazy not long ago, and many may still think I am, but I have always held a sincere and strong belief that ultimately, this is the end goal. People who have held jobs which were automated by AI and/or entirely robotized will be put in some sort of universal basic income scheme and left to fend for themselves. I don't think even us on the law field are exempt from this. By the end of next year, before I graduate, I'm probably going to write my thesis on the potential ramifications of replacing attorneys with artificial intelligence, even though my opinions might just be too strong for an academic paper on it. it's insane!

I told you folks. I warned you guys. And i'll just leave this old post of mine here.

Opinions on AI

The poll question is open. I don't want to influence your answers by giving my opinion until page 5 or 10 or whatever. Fire away! :) In case you're not that familiar with AI, or just want some food for thought before answering: The title may mislead you into thinking only of the dangers, but...

www.techpowerup.com

My opinion hasn't changed since that post and it will probably never change. I'm vehemently opposed to the "Great AI replacement" and I sincerely believe that it is going to happen eventually. We just have to stand our ground for as long as we can.

 

[AusWolf]

This is the humane/moral thing to do, unfortunately the people in this industry is in for a rough awakening. Many professions have come and gone over the years, and even though the profession of storyteller has been around since primordial times (it's about as old as the "world's oldest profession" - it literally dates to hunters and gatherers around a campfire), there's a web of complexity involved that make it so there is perfect business sense in replacing voice actors for digital media with an AI-powered text to speech engine that is capable of replicating emotion, intonation, accents, and realistic voice ranges.

They won't go on strike, there are no unions and no talent agencies to deal with, they won't decline positions they don't agree with, they don't have to be scheduled, shortening development times, and licensing such an engine would most definitely be cheaper than keeping VAs on hand and dealing with their schedule issues (thus pumping out content faster and increasing profits) - from a business perspective, they're almost a dying breed, and it's up to us gamers to stand up for the folks in this industry by utterly rejecting the use of these AI engines in our video games.

Why do you think AI is a multi-trillion-dollar industry? Because it's set to replace most professions. That's it! It's the only reason why so many mega-corporations and international conglomerates are so invested into it. They'll replace all jobs that can be automated by AI subroutines. A lot of people would call me crazy not long ago, and many may still think I am, but I have always held a sincere and strong belief that ultimately, this is the end goal. People who have held jobs which were automated by AI and/or entirely robotized will be put in some sort of universal basic income scheme and left to fend for themselves. I don't think even us on the law field are exempt from this. By the end of next year, before I graduate, I'm probably going to write my thesis on the potential ramifications of replacing attorneys with artificial intelligence, even though my opinions might just be too strong for an academic paper on it. it's insane!

I told you folks. I warned you guys. And i'll just leave this old post of mine here.

Opinions on AI

The poll question is open. I don't want to influence your answers by giving my opinion until page 5 or 10 or whatever. Fire away! :) In case you're not that familiar with AI, or just want some food for thought before answering: The title may mislead you into thinking only of the dangers, but...

www.techpowerup.com

My opinion hasn't changed since that post and it will probably never change. I'm vehemently opposed to the "Great AI replacement" and I sincerely believe that it is going to happen eventually. We just have to stand our ground for as long as we can.

Sure, AI wins by miles on the cost front. But what about quality? What good is it to make a movie or game in 5 minutes with zero effort if ends up being dogshit?

 

[Dr. Dro]

Sure, AI wins by miles on the cost front. But what about quality? What good is it to make a movie or game in 5 minutes with zero effort if ends up being dogshit?

I don't think VAs write the lines they act upon, but rest assured, publishers are very well aware of this. You wouldn't even know a voice was AI-generated if it wasn't stated in the credits. Tech will advance, and while there are already many realistic impressions of real people's voices, it won't be long until it's no longer just realistic, the computer will truly generate human speech - and in every language known to man! No longer will a game developer need to hire 5 to 8 VAs per character to cover most economic regions.

Want your main character fully voiced and fluent in ancient, erudite Japanese? Done. Want it to speak Nahuatl or Hopi? AI will do it instantly. Klingon or Elvish? Those are no problem too! This is what people mean when they say "AI is still in its infancy, give it time" - most people don't have even the faintest clue how mind-blowing that little statement can be, and not necessarily in a good way. It's probably mankind's biggest double-edged sword, and I liken it to playing God - what will we do if we go so deep in this rabbit hole, that we end up creating full sentience capable of evolving faster than we do? And I don't mean Skynet fiction, what I have in mind is probably a lot worse.

 

[Hyderz]

I don't think VAs write the lines they act upon, but rest assured, publishers are very well aware of this. You wouldn't even know a voice was AI-generated if it wasn't stated in the credits. Tech will advance, and while there are already many realistic impressions of real people's voices, it won't be long until it's no longer just realistic, the computer will truly generate human speech - and in every language known to man! No longer will a game developer need to hire 5 to 8 VAs per character to cover most economic regions.

Want your main character fully voiced and fluent in ancient, erudite Japanese? Done. Want it to speak Nahuatl or Hopi? AI will do it instantly. Klingon or Elvish? Those are no problem too! This is what people mean when they say "AI is still in its infancy, give it time" - most people don't have even the faintest clue how mind-blowing that little statement can be, and not necessarily in a good way. It's probably mankind's biggest double-edged sword, and I liken it to playing God - what will we do if we go so deep in this rabbit hole, that we end up creating full sentience capable of evolving faster than we do? And I don't mean Skynet fiction, what I have in mind is probably a lot worse.

wonder who will rekt humanity first... AI or mother nature with global warming

 

[JWNoctis]

wonder who will rekt humanity first... AI or mother nature with global warming

An oft-explored in fiction and actually closer-to-real-life-than-expected option is both; An AI tasked with solving global warming was trained with more priority to its end goal than it had for human life. I think you can already conjure such a persona from current consumer-grade LLMs with the right prompt, not that's it's anything more than a fictional persona at this point.

I don't think VAs write the lines they act upon, but rest assured, publishers are very well aware of this. You wouldn't even know a voice was AI-generated if it wasn't stated in the credits. Tech will advance, and while there are already many realistic impressions of real people's voices, it won't be long until it's no longer just realistic, the computer will truly generate human speech - and in every language known to man! No longer will a game developer need to hire 5 to 8 VAs per character to cover most economic regions.

Want your main character fully voiced and fluent in ancient, erudite Japanese? Done. Want it to speak Nahuatl or Hopi? AI will do it instantly. Klingon or Elvish? Those are no problem too! This is what people mean when they say "AI is still in its infancy, give it time" - most people don't have even the faintest clue how mind-blowing that little statement can be, and not necessarily in a good way. It's probably mankind's biggest double-edged sword, and I liken it to playing God - what will we do if we go so deep in this rabbit hole, that we end up creating full sentience capable of evolving faster than we do? And I don't mean Skynet fiction, what I have in mind is probably a lot worse.

Some argue that's logical conclusion of technological evolution. Quite a number of other people, having more will to stay alive, disagree.

 

[Chomiq]

Fully support their decision, people have to step up or they'll be replaced by Ai wherever possible.

 

[Courier 6]

the biggest problem isn´t the AI per se, but who´s behind it, some could be put under control, but others are completely out of reach, and who knows what they allready have planned and in place, I´ll try to keep this stuff out of my life as much as possible, the rest is in Your hands

 

[ADB1979]

I'm thinking the career of "Actor" will begin to die down (Slowly phased out) as times passes for obvious reasons and those belonging to SAG-AFTRA know it, and that's why they're making a move now before their numbers are too small later to even matter.

When that happens actors, as in people as actors will become a thing of the past.....
Well, there would always be a few around at least I'd think but as a whole (Career/industry) that ship will sail and sink.

Excepting for those people for whom nothing less than a live play by live natural beings (us I hope) will do, or anything where a live audience makes everything better, that cannot be done via computing (at least yet). I don't see Human actors disappearing any time soon, not least because the entire industry is still growing (to a ridiculous amount) and is already well over saturated and is in the process of watering itself down by the sheer quantity of people (would this be considered a bubble.?) trying to get into acting, whilst simultaneously there are people trying to remove people from the industry (and replace them with themselves doing computer modelling instead of that actor acting), which if one computer modeller can replace two actors then we will see a massive dent in the acting industry, but only if it catches on and people like/prefer it to Human actors (they do not if the modelling is supposed to replace a Human, rather than being a cartoon), and let us not forget that a significant amount of current computer modellers that are trying to replace actors will themselves be replaced by "AI" (machine learning) doing the same job as 4 computer modellers and only needing one Human overseer.!

There are countless examples from history of something like this happening, and yet "artisans" are still around practising their arts and crafts, whether that is a traditional cabinet maker or or an Opera singer/actor which still has not (and likely never will) catch on if recorded / on a screen rather than on stage. Personally I cannot stand Opera, but just like being at a concert is very different than being at home watching the TV, I can understand the appeal and recognise that Opera will never not be performed by Humans, and that Human actors will never disappear entirely, and I would wager a lot slower on the small and big screen than some would hope because even the best and most realistic digitally generated video for scenes may look good, it doesn't look "real", and "people" do not, yes it's getting better, but the faces still do not look "real", and until they do there will never be mass acceptance from the public.

 

[nomdeplume]

Fully support their decision, people have to step up or they'll be replaced by Ai wherever possible.

Just like the machines will take all our jobs. Even simple things like getting coffee will be replaced by robots by 2020.