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The deal will allow game studios to use “digital versions” of actors’ voices upon their preliminary agreement.
SAG-AFTRA Chief Executive Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said the terms of the agreement include an agreement to use artificial intelligence to create digital copies of voices, as well as requirements for their further secure storage.
“This is an evolutionary step forward. We cannot block or stop AI technology,” he added.
Artificial intelligence has become one of the main reasons that prompted screenwriters, and subsequently actors, to go on strike in Hollywood in 2023. Eventually, SAG-AFTRA struck a deal with major studios that set requirements for the use of AI to copy actors' images. The agreement did not prohibit studios from using technology to create “synthetic” actors who do not resemble real performers.
SAG-AFTRA is currently in similar negotiations with a coalition of major video game studios and has already voted to allow strikes. Crabtree-Ireland said the deal with Replica Studios could help stimulate those discussions:
“I hope the video game companies see this as a boost to negotiations.”
Replica Studios launched its artificial intelligence platform in 2019, and began selling AI-generated and “ethically licensed” voices from its library to video game developers. Last year, the company announced a new iteration of “smart NPCs”—non-player characters that can use OpenAI or other language models to interact with players.
Crabtree-Ireland also stated that the deal with Replica Studios will open up new job opportunities for voice actors who want to license their voices for use in video games.
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The agreement covers only “digital copies”—the use of artificial intelligence to reproduce the voice of a performer, living or dead; and does not apply to training AI to create synthetic records.
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