Concerns about AI: voice actors strike the games industry

US video game voice actors are going to strike. This was announced by the SAG-AFTRA union, which represents the voice actors. 98 percent have agreed to the strike, according to a statement from the US union.

The background to this is apparently failed negotiations with major US publishers over the use of AI voices. According to the statement, SAG-AFTRA spent a year and a half negotiating with major games companies such as Activision, Disney, EA, Rockstar parent company Take-Two and Sony subsidiary Insomniac Games.

"We will not agree to any contract that allows companies to exploit AI to the detriment of our members," said SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher. "Enough is enough". However, they are prepared to negotiate further. In the meantime, there are various interim agreements under the terms of which games companies can continue to employ striking voice actors.

A representative of the games industry told US journalist Stephen Totilo for his Gamefile newsletter that they were disappointed by the union's decision. They had already come very close to a contract and wanted to continue negotiating.

Protection from AI voices

The union is primarily concerned with the protection of AI voices: Using short samples of voices, AI tools can recreate any sentences in the tone of voice actors. The quality is generally lower than that of real voice actors, but could be sufficient for some developers.

We can see how AI voices can be used in video games in the modding scene of "The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim", for example. Modders use tools such as ElevenLabs to create AI-generated voices of the original voice actors for additional quests.

Such AI voices can also be used on television: In its sequel to the children's TV series "Pumuckl", private broadcaster RTL has an AI recreate the voice of Hans Clarin, who voiced the title character in the audiobooks and the original series from the 1980s. The new texts were recorded by cabaret artist Maxi Schafroth and converted into the voice of Hans Clarin by an AI. Clarin's family had previously agreed to the project.

In January, SAG-AFTRA signed a contract with the developer of an AI tool called Replica, which is intended to prevent the unauthorized use of AI voices. Under the agreement, voice actors can license their voices to Replica so that an AI version can be used in video games, for example. "This new agreement paves the way for professional voice actors to access new employment opportunities for their digital voice copies with industry-leading protections tailored to AI technology," the US union wrote in a statement.

(dahe)