Hollywood’s video game performers are going on strike, throwing part of the entertainment industry into another work stoppage after talks for a new contract with major game studios broke down over artificial intelligence protections.

Hollywood’s video game performers voted to go on strike Thursday, throwing part of the entertainment industry into another work stoppage after talks for a new contract with major game studios broke down over artificial intelligence protections. 

The strike — the second for video game voice actors and motion capture performers under the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists — will begin at 12:01 a.m. Friday. The move comes after nearly two years of negotiations with gaming giants, including divisions of Activision, Warner Bros. and Walt Disney Co., over a new interactive media agreement.

SAG-AFTRA negotiators say gains have been made over wages and job safety in the video game contract, but that the studios will not make a deal over the regulation of generative AI. Without guardrails, game companies could train AI to replicate an actor’s voice, or create a digital replica of their likeness without consent or fair compensation, the union said.

  • EleventhHour
    6•4 months ago

    Thank you for confirming my previous comments

    • @[email protected]English
      -3•4 months ago

      This is how generations have been, they usually don’t accept new things, be it culture, technology or fashion, because it breaks their routine. AI is not going to disappear, because it is a technology as old as computing, the closest thing is that an AI winter will come (it has happened several times to a greater or lesser extent).

      But this only affects the US, because in other countries it remains the same without strikes, and I think this will encourage more subcontracting in countries like India, China, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, because they are cheaper. Unless the government starts giving subsidies or updates the Berne Convention.