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The ongoing negotiations between the SAG-AFTRA union and game publishers about the use of artificial intelligence in acting roles are proving to be quite challenging. The union recently shared on its website that while there have been some advancements and certain provisions have been settled, they are still “frustratingly far apart” from reaching a consensus, particularly regarding AI usage. This impasse has led to SAG-AFTRA members in the gaming sector being on strike since July 2024.
The main issue revolves around the use of AI to replicate an actor’s voice without their consent, allowing publishers to reuse it indefinitely without the actor’s knowledge or approval.
“The bargaining team would like to make it seem as though an agreement is just around the corner,” a statement from SAG-AFTRA reads. “But that’s simply not the reality. They’re also hoping this situation will cause division among our members. We strongly urge you to review the detailed comparison chart of AI proposals to understand the significant gap that still exists regarding essential AI protections for performers.”
Publishers are pushing to use past performances and any performances they can find from external sources freely, disregarding any negotiated protections. This means an actor might never find out that their voice replica is being used, won’t receive any compensation, and won’t have any say over how it’s used. Additionally, during a strike, these replicas could be used to simulate ongoing work, completely against the actor’s wishes. And even if actors consent to specific uses of their replicas, publishers are not required to disclose how they utilize it.
Despite these difficulties with the bargaining group, SAG-AFTRA has been celebrated successes elsewhere. Over 160 games have agreed to interim and independent contracts with the union, resulting in higher total earnings than non-striking games. These agreements include the sought-after protections that the bargaining group is resisting—proving that such terms are not only practical but also favorable to a wide variety of game companies, regardless of their size.
