Artificial intelligence threatens jobs, US voice and video game actors say

Diana-Maria Riva, Lisa Vidal and others protest at the SAG-AFTRA video game picket at Warner Bros Studios. Photo / Getty Images

Striking video game voice actors and motion-capture performers in the United States have held their first picket in front of Warner Bros Games and say artificial intelligence is a threat to their professions.

“The models they’re using have been trained on our voices without our consent at all, with no compensation,” voice actor and video game strike captain Leeanna Albanese told Reuters on the picket line yesterday.

Video game voice actors and motion-capture performers called a strike last week over failed labour contract negotiations focused on AI-related protections for workers.

This marks the latest strike in Hollywood after union writers and actors took action last year, with AI also being a major concern.

“I think when you remove the human element from any interactive project, whether it be a video game or TV show, an animated series, a movie, and you put AI in replacement for the human element, we can tell,” British voice actor Jeff Leach said. “I’m a gamer, I’m a digester of this content.”

The decision to strike follows months of negotiations with major video-game companies including Activision Productions, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Take-Two Interactive, Disney Character Voices and Warner Bros Discovery’s WB Games.

However, some companies, including Electronic Arts and Take-Two, will likely stave off a big hit from the strike because of their in-house studios and the lengthy development cycles for games, analysts have said.

The strike also brings with it a larger call to action across Hollywood as people in the industry advocate for a law that can protect them from AI risks.

Striking members of the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) picket Warner Bros Studios. Photo / Getty Images

The No Fakes Act, a bipartisan bill in Congress that would make it illegal to make an AI replica of someone’s likeness and voice without their permission, has gained support from the SAG-AFTRA performers union, the Motion Picture Association, The Recording Academy and Disney.

From Grammy-winning artist Taylor Swift to Vice-President Kamala Harris, who is running in the 2024 presidential election, leaders in entertainment and beyond say deep fakes created from AI are a pressing policy matter.

“Everybody in this country needs protection from the abusive use of AI,” Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, national executive director and chief negotiator of SAG-AFTRA, told Reuters at the picket line.