Today SAG-AFTRA announced a deal, which it defines as "groundbreaking," with AI voice technology company focusing on the gaming industry Replica Studios.
According to the press release, the agreement intends to allow voice actors to "safely explore new employment opportunities for their digital voice replicas with industry-leading protections tailored to AI technology."
At the same time, AAA video game studios are allowed to work with Replica Studios to access top SAG-AFTRA talent (or more precisely, their AI doppelgangers).
The press release also mentions that the deal has been "approved by affected members of the union’s voiceover performer community," albeit it does not specify who these members are or how they have been selected.
We hear that the union believes that this is an "important step towards the ethical use of AI voices in creative projects by game developers."
The contract establishes minimum terms and conditions, requires performer consent and negotiation for uses of their digital voice double, and also postulates that actors can opt-out from continued use of their AI double in further games.
If you'd like to hear the spiel directly from the lion's mouth SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher provided a statement commenting on the deal.
Artificial intelligence has dominated the headlines, and for most performers, the best protection against the unauthorized digital simulation of their voice, likeness and/or performance is a SAG-AFTRA contract. We are so happy to partner with Replica Studios, because this is a great example of AI being done right
We also hear from SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland.
Recent developments in AI technology have underscored the importance of protecting the rights of voice talent, particularly as game studios explore more efficient ways to create their games.
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.
Lastly, the press release includes a comment from Shreyas Nivas, CEO of Replica Studios.
Replica is proud to partner with SAG-AFTRA to introduce an ethical approach to the emerging use of generative AI.
We are excited by the new opportunities this opens up for world-leading AAA studios who can now access the benefits of Replica’s AI voice technology while knowing that talent is recognized and compensated fairly for the use of their likeness
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.
You'll certainly be forgiven if you find SAG-AFTRA's statements particularly defeatist, especially considering the union's combative stance in other fields. I suppose this offers a new definition to the "deal with the devil" phrasing.
Looking at the replies to the union's announcement on X (formerly Twitter) it certainly doesn't appear that many are seeing this move as "groundbreaking" or protective of their rights in any way, with several questioning who among SAG-AFTRA's "affected members" was consulted before the deal was announced.
Many understandably express surprise, shock, and dismay.
AI has certainly been a hot-button issue in the gaming industry, even well beyond the realm of voice acting, with many companies including Microsoft, Square Enix, and Ubisoft expressing their interest or striking deals of their own.
