THE growing concern by voice actors over how their voices could be affected by AI technology has stepped up a notch.
During the recent Consumer Electronics Show 2024 in Las Vegas on Jan 9, the Screen Actors Guild American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) announced a “groundbreaking new deal” that was struck with artificial intelligence (AI) voice technology company Replica Studios.
In the press release on the union’s website, the agreement will provide an avenue for Replica to engage SAG-AFTRA members under a fair, ethical agreement in order to create and license a digital replica of their voice.
“Licensed voices can be used in video game development and other interactive media projects from pre-production to final release,” the statement also read.
The deal also seems to provide a shield for the voice actors, providing them with consent and negotiation options, along with the opportunity to opt out of the continued use of their digitised voices in future projects.
After the deal was revealed, the backlash from the voice-actor community was swift. In the press release, SAG-AFTRA claims that the contract was “approved by affected members of the union’s voiceover performer community,“ but according to popular voice actors such as Steve Blum, this was not the case.
“Nobody in our community approved this that I know of. Games are the bulk of my livelihood and have been for years. Who are you referring to?” Blum posted on X (formerly Twitter). The new deal is part of a larger, ongoing interactive media agreement involving voice actors and artificial intelligence.
