Striking actors weren’t here at San Diego Comic-Con, however, the guild’s National Executive Director and Chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland was, side-by-side with voiceover actors to talk about the threat of A.I. in their profession for the National Association of Voiceover Actors panel “AI in Entertainment: The Performer’s Perspective Panel.”
“A.I. is implemented voluntarily by these big corporations, and people need to hold them accountable,” said Crabtree-Ireland, “We don’t accept the premise that we do what they say.”
“A.I. can be implemented in a human-centric way instead of breaking them down,” he added.
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While voiceover actors can engage in videogame work now, they cannot do voiceovers for features films, TV shows and trailers of struck companies.
If anyone wants to know how A.I. voiceover actors are affected, it was in voiceover artist Cissy Jones’ (Transformers Earthrise) testimony today, who expressed grave concern about “public fan mods” whereby fans use a celebrity’s voice to record whatever lines they want, using their vocal likeness and posting thatacross the internet. Jones said that fan mods, while they “can be cheeky, in other instances it can be hurtful.”
“If I don’t have ability to control what my voice says, and what is fake or not, it can do harm to me personally, financially, and (there are things) I don’t want my children to hear. I understand the fun of it, but I would ask with my entire soul that they (fans) put themselves in our shoes,” beseeched Jones.
President and founder of NAVA Tim Friedlander (Record of Ragnarok) went a step further to explain that it’s not just fan mods that are abusing voiceover actors, rather instances where voiceover actors are finding their voices from one game, being used without their consent in another game. Similar situations are going on with promos. On a whole other level with A.I., there are deep fakes where actors’ likenesses are used in nefarious ways.
“Anyone who has watched Joan Is Awful, the first episode of Black Mirror this season — anyone can imagine a world not too far off from today where the abuse effects us today,” said Crabtree-Ireland.
“Everyone is concerned with their personal life–maybe their face is used without any real informed consent,” he explained.
And that’s the vital point in getting fair treatment and protection for voiceover actors from A.I. per the chief negotiator: It’s informed consent.
“That means performers need to understand what’s going to be done with the digital replica of their voice,” said Crabtree-Ireland.
The abuses of A.I. “are happening in voice acting more than any other field.”
“No one should think that there’s less resolve in the voiceover actor or gaming community” said Crabtree-Ireland when it comes to A.I.
The chief negotiator emphasized that while corporations have said they’re doing everything to protect A.I.; they’re not. He encouraged those consumers in the Hilton Bayfront Aqua Ballroom to speak out to these companies. Crabtree-Ireland says they’ll listen if consumers speak out: “They care about shareholder value the bottom line, and consumers turning away.”
While SAG-AFTRA will bargain for A.I. protections of its members, what about piracy? Piracy is also a culprit in the duplication of voices across the internet.
How SAG-AFTRA will police that per Crabtree-Ireland ‘is through a combination of collective bargaining, public policy and education of fans so that everyone is on the same page.” Essentially “a set of boundaries around implementation of A.I.”
“There needs to be a public policy set around deep fakes,” he emphasized.
And “politicians will care” about deep fakes, and the need to take action against them said Jones.
“The ease of which they can be deep faked in an important election,” Jones pointed out.
Also joining today’s panel were moderator Linsay Rousseau (Transformers: War for Cybertron, God of War Ragnarok) and Ashly Burch (Mythic Quest, Horizon Zero Dawn).
Said SAG/AFTRA negotiating member, Zeke Alton, “We’re bargaining for our very existence.”
“This isn’t a contract battle between a union and a company,” said Crabtree-Ireland, “it’s existential.”
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