On August 1, 2024, video game performers and actors headed to the Warner Bros. Studios lot to picket in front of the building against what they called an unwillingness from top gaming companies to protect union voice actors and motion capture workers equally against the unregulated use of artificial intelligence.
According to the national executive director of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland told The Associated Press, “We’ve made deals without a strike with the major record labels and with countless other employers, which provide for informed consent and fair compensation for our members. And yet, for some reason, the video game companies refuse to do that, and that’s what’s going to be their undoing.”
Video game voice actors and performers voted to strike last week, with the protest marking the first significant labor action. After 18 months of negotiations with gaming corporations, including divisions of Activision Warner Bros. and Walt Disney Co., the SAG-AFTRA game performers voted to strike. AI has been deemed an existential crisis for performers by union leaders because the likenesses of game workers like voice actors and motion capture artists can be replicated by the technology and used without consent.
If video games began development before September 2023, they would be officially exempt from the strike action. So, games with high anticipation, like Grand Theft Auto 6, will likely be unaffected. According to Crabtree-Ireland, “Live gaming will be affected most quickly.” Live gaming describes games such as Fortnite and Apex Legends, which are constantly updated and rely on subscribers to maintain relevance. If the dispute continues for over 60 days, the union will include live-service video games in the strike.
Last year, the SAG-AFTRA writer’s strike brought Hollywood to a halt due to the use of artificial intelligence to create text, images, and audio from existing material. This strike protests the use of generative AI, which replicates human performances, specifically stunt performers. The union wants studios to guarantee that performers won’t be duplicated without fair compensation and that they will have control over how their bodies and voices are used to create performances.
Although SAG-AFTRA is concerned about AI’s rapid improvement, it isn’t completely opposed to its use. The strike highlights the intersection between technology and labor rights in the entertainment industry. As AI continues to gain a more prominent role in content creation, discussions around how creatives and workers are compensated and protected will shape how the media and entertainment industry will ensure that human creativity and labor are respected in a quickly evolving digital landscape.
