Hollywood video game performers go on strike, citing AI ‘abuse’

The American labor union has been trying for 18 months to get a clause preventing publishers from making AI-generated versions of their actors’ work without their consent.

Hollywood video game performers — including voice actors and motion capture artists — are set to go on strike at the end of this week on July 26, citing concerns over artificial intelligence protections and “abuse” in the gaming industry.

The Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Interactive Media Agreement (SAG-AFTRA) confirmed the strike would take effect on July 26, citing more than an 18-month-long failed negotiation attempt with a group representing several video game publishers.

Those firms include Activision Productions, Disney Character Voices, Formosa Interactive, Electronic Arts Productions and Insomniac Games.

The labors union wants these firms looking to employ SAG-AFTRA’s actors and artists to sign several contracts that offer “critical” AI protections for its members.

“[But] the employers refuse to plainly affirm, in clear and enforceable language, that they will protect all performers covered by this contract in their A.I. language.”

A spokesperson representing the video game companies said they are disappointed with the decision, claiming they’ve already found “common ground” with the video game producers on 24 of its 25 proposals, including wage increases and additional safety provisions, an NBC News report states.

SAG-AFTRA members in film and television went on a similar strike in June 2023 partly because the entertainment firms were still refusing to exclude the use of AI-generated faces and voices of SAG-AFTRA members in their work.

“We’re not going to consent to a contract that allows companies to abuse A.I. to the detriment of our members. Enough is enough,” SAG-AFTRA’s president, Fran Drescher, stressed. “When these companies get serious about offering an agreement our members can live — and work — with, we will be here, ready to negotiate.”

These actors are the “driving force” behind the success that enables the video game industry to generate billions of dollars in profit annually, so their rights should be upheld accordingly, said SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director and chief negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland.

“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.”

IMANC chair Sarah Elmaleh slammed the entertainment companies for not compromising on the AI clauses, accusing them of trying to commit “flagrant exploitation.”

Related: Europol anticipates rise in AI-driven cybercrime: Report

A couple of months after the second strike, California lawmaker Ash Kalra introduced a bill to protect actors, artists and entertainers from AI by mandating employment contracts to include informed consent when it comes to digital replicates.

An amended version of the bill was passed in the California Senate on July 2 but has not yet passed into law.

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