Over 500 actors ambush Warner Bros. demanding protection from misuse of AI in massive strike action

LAST year saw one of the biggest-ever strikes as SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America ceased work on television and film for three months.

These large unions of actors and writers went on strike demanding better pay and working conditions, delaying TV shows and movies in the process.

Now it’s the turn of video games, as SAG-AFTRA is striking against 10 video game companies in an attempt to gain better protections for the voice actors and performance capture artists in the union.

One of the biggest sticking points for SAG-AFTRA is the use, and misuse, of AI.

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said: “We’re not going to consent to a contract that allows companies to abuse AI to the detriment of our members.

“Enough is enough. When these companies get serious about offering an agreement our members can live — and work — with, we will be here, ready to negotiate.”

A spokesperson from the video game producers party to the Interactive Media Agreement, Audrey Cooling, claims that after 18 months of negotiations the two parties “have already found common ground on 24 out of 25 proposals”.

However, this strike hinges on fair consent and compensation for the use of AI replicas of the union’s actors.

As reported by Variety, this week more than 500 actors from the union stood outside one of the struck companies, WB Games, as part of a picket for the strike.

The union’s chief contracts officer, Ray Rodriguez, claims there are not enough protections in place for actors whose in-game characters do not resemble them in real life.

Rodriguez argues: “You’re providing the stunt work for a zombie — you’re not going to look like that zombie hopefully.”

There is also the issue surrounding actors who provide the voice and performances for ongoing roles, in multiple games across a series.

Chair of the union’s negotiating committee, Sarah Elmaleh says: “The way they’ve written it right now is that you could prompt anyone based on any of the characters they’ve done in the history of their career to recreate their performance.”

There appears to be a genuine concern that companies will train AI on an actor’s performance rather than spending the money on hiring the actor again for subsequent projects.

The strike action only covers projects that began development after the previous agreement lapsed at the end of August 2023.

This means that games like GTA 6 and Dragon Age: The Veilguard will not be hit by delays but that games in the future could.

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