SAG-AFTRA
The fight over AI taking away actors’ voices continues as the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) is unhappy with the latest proposal received from the bargaining group.
The video game strike started in July, soon after another fight for actors’ rights ended. SAG-AFTRA is trying to negotiate a future where game companies won’t be able to use actors’ voices and performances to train AI and thus replace human workers.
Unfortunately, the new offer from the bargaining group is reportedly “filled with alarming loopholes that will leave our members vulnerable to AI abuse,” SAG-AFTRA said.
“The bargaining group would have you believe that we are close to reaching a deal. This is not the case. They also are hoping our members will turn on each other. We encourage you to read this extensive updated comparison chart of A.I. proposals to see for yourself how far apart we remain on fundamental A.I. protections for all performers.”
SAG-AFTRA
The guild has already submitted a counter-proposal that addresses the loopholes and “would result in a contract that offers the minimum protections our members need in order to maintain sustainable careers as video game performers.”
SAG-AFTRA claims that game companies want to use actors’ performances without any of the protections mentioned.
“You could be told nothing about your replica being used, offered nothing in the way of payment, and you could do nothing about it. They want to be able to make your replica continue to work, as you, during a future strike, whether you like it or not. And once you’ve given your specific consent for how your replica can be used, they refuse to tell you what they actually did with it.”
While there is still a lot to talk about with the bargaining group, some progress has been made: the guild has secured deals with over 160 games, and hopefully, the strike will end soon, when the industry accepts the no-AI contract.
While generative AI remains an issue, it has yet to reach a decent shape where it can replace humans. It’s not there, as is obvious from the recent AI replica of Aloy from Horizon Forbidden West, which left viewers baffled, but the technology is improving fast.
Sony
Another unexpected AI drama comes from the popular card game Balatro. Players and the dedicated subreddit mod couldn’t find common ground, and the creator himself had to step in.
As PC Gamer noticed, it started when users began questioning the appearance of AI-generated art in the subreddit. In response, the moderator called DrTankHead stood against removing such content.
“We will not be banning AI art here, if it is properly claimed and tagged as such,” they wrote. “This has been done after discussion with the staff at Playstack.”
The game’s maker, LocalThunk, heard about it and made sure to express his anti-AI position and say that the mod misinterpreted a message from Playstack.
“Neither Playstack nor I condone AI ‘art’. I don’t use it in my game, I think it does real harm to artists of all kinds. The actions of this mod do not reflect how Playstack feels or how I feel on the topic. We have removed this moderator from the moderation team.
“We will not be allowing AI generated images on this subreddit from now on. We will make sure our rules and FAQ reflect this soon.”
LocalThunk
I don’t know what exactly has been said, but I kind of feel bad for DrTankHead if they truly just misunderstood something. They remain a mod in the NSFW Balatroromance subreddit, where they addressed the drama, saying they still support Balatro’s creator and publisher and understand why they made the choices they made. Now, AI content will be freely available on Balatroromance.
This might not be directly connected to SAG-AFTRA, but it shows that people have different relationships with AI. What we need are rules that will prevent others from using actors’ performances to make something new out of them, and I hope, we’ll get them soon.
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