As the video game strike drags on into the fall, learn why AI remains a problem

Video game artists have entered their sixth week of strikes over fears that artificial intelligence could create digital copies of themselves that could eliminate their jobs.

Fears about how AI will impact traditional jobs are nothing new in Hollywood; they were the crux of last year’s actors and writers strike, which left the industry still struggling to recover.

But the difference this time is that there is only one issue left on the table. SAG-AFTRA, which represents about 2,600 workers each year under the agreement, the proposal put forward A group of major video game companies, including Activision Productions, WB Games, and Insomniac Games, have developed so many unique applications of artificial intelligence that they could allow much of the work their members do to be done by others.

What both sides say about AI

The union said its members want informed consent for their voices, movements and images to be used by AI, but companies are only willing to offer this if an actor’s performance reveals a character.

Video game makers argue that, unlike film and television, it is typical in their industry to have multiple people’s performances cast on a single character.

“We expect our performance to be combined with other artists,” said Sarah Elmaleh, voice actress and chair of the negotiating committee for video game artists.

He gave an example: “(Maybe) the voice artist who voices Spider-Man isn’t that acrobatic or gymnastic. So that performance is combined with one of our talented acrobatic artists. Combining performances in that way — a composite performance — is incredibly common in our field.”

Audrey Cooling, a spokeswoman for the video game companies, did not respond to specific questions about the union’s allegations but said in an email, “Within the scope of our AI offering, if we want to create a new performance using a digital copy of an actor in a game, we are required to obtain prior approval and pay a fair fee for the use.”

Types of performance in dispute

SAG-AFTRA said the companies do not consider workers who animate the movements of video game characters to be “performers” and therefore do not want to protect them from AI.

Andi Norris is one of those actors. During her time as a video game actress, she has played a monster, a soldier, and every character in a restaurant. She said that because video game parts are often made using multiple actors, the risk of being replaced by AI is even higher.

“It’s a lot easier to copy someone’s voice than it is to copy someone’s entire presence on camera. It’s a lot easier to copy someone’s movements than it is to copy someone’s entire presence on camera,” Norris said.

Last year’s film and television actors’ strike lasted 118 days. Actors with SAG-AFTRA eventually received informed consent for the use of their likenesses in a deal with Hollywood studios and broadcasters, but some actors said the deal was not enough.

How did we get here?

Negotiations on SAG-AFTRA’s Interactive Media Agreement with major video game companies began nearly two years ago, in October 2022. In 2023, those workers voted to authorize a strike.

Not all video game companies are stuck right now; SAG-AFTRA’s chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said last week that more than 50 companies had reached agreements with the union, and this week the union announced a tentative agreement with Lightspeed LA, the company that produced the game Last Sentinel.

But SAG-AFTRA has yet to return to the bargaining table with some of the biggest video game companies.

“This is the time when these AI wars need to be fought,” Crabtree-Ireland said. “We can’t just hammer this thing in, wait three years and say, ‘I hope we can negotiate then.’ It’s not going to get any easier. It’s going to get harder. And in the meantime, our members are going to be operating without protection.”

Note: Some members of the LAist newsroom are represented by SAG-AFTRA. They are not involved in this labor dispute.