AI Threatens Voice-Over Industry: SAG-AFTRA Director Fights Back
SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and chief negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, joined the "AI in Entertainment: The Performer’s Perspective Panel" on Friday at Comic-Con. In a conversation with voice-over actors, he addressed the looming threat of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in their field, underlined by big corporations' voluntary implementation of AI. Crabtree-Ireland advocated for holding these corporations accountable and proposed that AI could be implemented in a human-centric way instead of breaking down the performers.
Despite the current strike, voice-over actors can engage in video game work but are barred from performing voice-overs for feature films, TV shows, and trailers of struck companies. Highlighting the adverse effects of AI on voice-over actors was Cissy Jones (Transformers Earthrise) who expressed concern about "public fan mods"- fans recording lines in a celebrity's vocal likeness. According to her, while these mods can sometimes be entertaining, they often turn harmful and unsettling.
Tim Friedlander (Record of Ragnarok), founder and president of the National Association of Voiceover Actors (NAVA), expanded on this issue to include instances of voice-over actors' voices being used without their consent. Deep-fakes also pose a mounting concern, with actors' likenesses manipulated for unscrupulous uses. To safeguard against the abuse of AI, Crabtree-Ireland underscored the importance of informed consent, emphasizing that performers must understand how digital replicas of their voices will be utilized.
As the conversation moved towards corporate responsibility in AI protection, Crabtree-Ireland denounced the general narrative that companies were doing their best to secure AI, urging consumers to voice their concerns. SAG-AFTRA plans to fight for AI protections of its members and confront piracy, another key part of the voice duplication problem. Crabtree-Ireland laid out plans to establish boundaries around the implementation of AI through collective bargaining, public policy, and fan education.
Alright, now let’s take a quick breather and put our commentary hats on.
The times, they are a-changin' - and not necessarily for the better. Until AI decided to crash the voiceover soiree, our greatest concern was probably what kind of tea to soothe the overworked vocal cords. But trust AI to take a crasher's role to a whole new level.
Cissy Jones hit the nail on the head as she articulated the discomfiture of hearing one's voice saying something one never agreed to say. It's the auditory equivalent of seeing your doppelganger cavorting around town while you're home, netflixing in your jammies. Unsettling, to say the least.
But where there's a villain, there's generally a hero waiting in the wings. Step forward, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, caped crusader for the voice artist cause. His clarion call for corporations to be held accountable strikes a chord. After all, why should the artists bear the brunt while the companies reap the benefits of boundary-pushing technology? Doesn't sound fair, does it?
Crabtree-Ireland's solution - focusing on human-centric implementation of AI combined with consumers' power to influence corporate change - certainly seems plausible. But as with all good cliffhangers, only time will reveal if this plan manages to yield results or simply add more tension to an intriguing plot twist.
What's undeniable though, is the need for raising awareness, as SAG-AFTRA endeavors to do. It's perhaps more vital now than ever, with the chorus of voices against the uncritical adoption of AI in the entertainment sector getting increasingly louder. Because as we've heard on many a panel, it's far more than just a contract battle - it's an existential fight.
