In 2022, James Earl Jones worked with Disney to allow the company to use artificial intelligence (AI) to recreate his original voice as Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise. During this process, he also consented to the studio using AI to reconstruct his voice in future projects. Whether or not Disney will do so is still unknown, but after Jones’ passing last month, some voice actors are concerned that this precedent could impact their job opportunities in the future.
Here’s what to know about AI in the acting industry.
Actors on strike
When the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and the Writers’ Guild of America (WGA) went on strike last year, the growing use of generative AI was one of the major sticking points among parties. Both unions were concerned about AI reducing their opportunities for paid work. For SAG-AFTRA, the issue of “digital replicas” and “synthetic performers” was one of the final issues to be resolved. But that wasn’t the end to the industry’s concern over AI.
Actors once more returned to the picket lines this year on July 26, this time against the video game industry due to a lack of AI protections for workers. In particular, movement performers who assist with stunts and motion-capture for games were being left out of the original bargaining proposals by game companies. Although the companies insisted that their subsequent offers addressed the union’s concerns and that the terms were “among the strongest in the entertainment industry,” the union continued rejecting the proposals for excluding a majority of movement performers.
By early September, 80 gaming companies had agreed to the union’s AI terms. As the union’s head of negotiations noted: “The sheer volume of companies that have signed SAG-AFTRA agreements demonstrates how reasonable those protections are.”
Companies always attempt workarounds
Although many gaming companies have agreed to the terms, other companies have yet to get on board. On September 24, SAG-AFTRA called for a strike specifically against “League of Legends” – a popular online multiplayer game. The union accused Formosa Interactive, the company producing voice-overs for League of Legends, of attempting to go around the ongoing strike for a new, unrelated game in the works.
SAG-AFTRA claims Formosa Interactive attempted to “cancel” the game when the strike began, but when that strategy failed the company “secretly transferred the game to a shell company and sent out casting notices for ‘non-union’ talent only.” Formosa Interactive rejects those allegations. The company is also a member of the bargaining group in the original contract discussions.
Making positive moves forward
SAG-AFTRA recently made a deal with an AI startup, Narrativ, in the hopes of setting “a new standard” for ethically using AI technology that makes it easier for actors to not only give consent for the use of their voice but to be properly compensated.
As one CEO of a marketing tech company told Variety, “This deal with Narrativ feels like a bit of a watershed moment for how we approach AI in creative fields. What’s got me really excited is how it puts humans at the helm…This is exactly how AI should be used: as a tool that saves time and expands creative possibilities, not as a replacement for human artistry and talent.”
