07/27/2024 – 12:55
Artificial intelligence (AI), the central theme of last year’s Hollywood strikes, is now causing a second walkout by actors in a much larger industry at the heart of technology: video games.
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) began its second strike in nine months on Friday (26), this time against the video game giants, at the forefront of an industry that moves more than 100 billion dollars (R$ 565 billion at the current exchange rate) per year.
While many of the demands are similar, such as consent and compensation for actors whose voices and movements are used by artificial intelligence (AI) to shape game characters, the latest negotiations bring unique challenges, negotiators say.
Tech companies, by their nature, tend to view actors as “data” for AI, said Ray Rodriguez, head of contract negotiations.
“The performances are balanced, determined by the psychology of the character and their circumstances. That’s what makes it appealing,” Rodriguez told AFP.
However, “the fact that they see themselves as technology companies” is directly related to “their lack of willingness to perceive the value of their actions,” he added.
– “Secrecy” –
The discussions encompass some 2,600 artists who provide voices for video games, or whose physical movements are recorded to animate computer-generated characters.
The measure comes after more than a year and a half of fruitless negotiations between the union and companies in the sector, such as Activision, Disney, Electronic Arts and Warner Bros. Games.
Talks are sporadic. The companies have not appointed full-time negotiators and are “absolutely obsessed with secrecy,” Rodriguez said.
Video game characters often combine performances. For example, a character might have the voice of one actor and the movements of another.
It’s a “really nice” way to collaborate, said Sarah Elmaleh, who heads the union’s negotiating committee.
However, video game companies exploit this ambiguity by creating legal shortcuts in their counteroffers, he warned.
This is because these companies can use AI not only to reproduce an actor, but to create “new” voices or body movements from a compilation of human performances.
Known as “generative AI,” this technique could make it harder for actors to track their work and pay.
“There are a number of ways you can try to be evasive in this area,” Elmaleh told AFP at Comic Con, which is taking place this week in San Diego, California.
– “Fight this battle” –
Last year, blockades at Hollywood studios, attended by celebrities, drew attention to the strikes.
The video game industry’s protest calls for a more “surprising and diverse” approach, said Elmaleh, who suggested strategies such as targeting “content creators and the virtual as well as the physical landscape,” without going into detail.
For video game voice actors and voice actors like Lindsay Rousseau, industry action can’t wait as AI quickly takes over their work.
“I do supporting characters, the NPCs (non-playing characters) that give you quests, characters you fight and die with, a lot of creature voices,” he explained. “That’s the first job that’s going to disappear,” he added.
Without safeguards against AI, only famous voice actors at the top of the industry will make a living, while newcomers or those with less fame will be left out, Rousseau warned.
For vulnerable actors still assessing the impact of the Hollywood strikes, the thought of spending more time on the sidelines is daunting.
However, “the way the strike went last year proved us right,” Rodriguez said.
“It didn’t discourage us from going into another fight over AI. In fact, it highlighted the right to fight this battle and the need to fight it now,” he added.
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