It was announced on January 9th that SAG-AFTRA signed a deal with Replica Studios for the use of AI voice acting in Video Games. SAG-AFTRA and Replica Studios announced the deal ” during an event at CES”. According to SAG-AFTRA, this new agreement allows for voice actors “to safely explore new employment opportunities for their digital voice replicas with industry-leading protections tailored to AI technology, allowing AAA video game studios and other companies working with Replica to access top SAG-AFTRA talent”.
The agreement establishes “performer consent and negotiation for uses of their voice”. It also allows for performers “to opt out of” having their voice used in “new works”. SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland had this to say about the agreement:
With this agreement, we have achieved fully informed consent and fair compensation when it comes to the use of our members’ voices and performances. We are proud to work with Replica in leading the way to make it easy for these companies to access SAG-AFTRA’s world-renowned talent in an ethical manner that ensures consent and fair compensation for their contributions. This agreement also paves the way for other companies to follow their lead.
Crabtree-Ireland also pointed out that “AI is not something” that can be blocked and “it’s not something that we can stop”. From the moment that AI has come onto the scene, it has been making waves in the entertainment industry. AI was front and center when the SAG-Aftra union went on strike back in 2023. The strike came to an end in November 2023 with SAG-AFTRA reaching an agreement with the Alliance Of Motion Picture And Television Producers.
In regards to the agreement between SAG-AFTRA and Replica Studios, Shreyas Nivas the CEO of Replica Studios had this to say :
Our voice actor agreements ensure that game developers using our platform are only accessing licensed talent who have given permission for their voice to be used as a training data set, as opposed to the wild west of AI platforms using unethical data-scraping methods to replicate and synthesize voices without permission.
According to Variety, SAG-AFTRA is “in similar negotiations with gaming studios”. Only time will tell if other companies and studios will follow Replica’s lead. And with technology constantly changing every day, who knows what the video gaming industry is going look like years from now.