Published: August 19, 2024
Why video game artists are fighting for the strongest AI protection yet
By Movieguide® Contributor
Three weeks after starting their strike, video game artists explained why they believe they must fight for stronger protection against artificial intelligence than has existed so far.
On July 26, video game artists began striking, giving negotiators the leverage they needed to push through final changes to the AI protection language. While this move has negative implications for the industry, SAG-AFTRA did not feel compelled to continue after negotiations that began in October 2022 stalled.
As with all other negotiations in recent years, the crux of these talks lies in disagreements over the use of AI. SAG-AFTRA negotiators are pushing for the most comprehensive protections yet, while the major studios feel they have given everything they can.
“Under our AI proposal, if we want to use a digital recreation of an actor to generate a new portrayal of them in a game, we will have to get their consent and pay them appropriately for the use,” said Audrey Cooling, a representative of the major studios. “These are robust protections that are entirely consistent with, or better than, other entertainment industry agreements the union has signed.”
However, SAG-AFTRA believes this language leaves many of its performers unprotected from artificial intelligence, particularly motion capture performers who are rarely categorized as actors.
“I can crawl across the floor and walls as this or that creature, and (the studios) will argue that it’s not a performance and therefore not subject to their AI protections,” said Andi Norris, a motion capture actor who is part of the union’s negotiating team.
“The industry has been very clear with us that they do not necessarily consider everyone who performs movement tricks to be a performer covered by the collective bargaining agreement,” added Ray Rodriguez, SAG-AFTRA’s chief contracts officer.
These performances are currently critical to producing realistic movements and cannot currently be replaced by algorithms. However, if AI can train on thousands of data sets, these performers fear it will cause them to become extinct.
“If you want it to look real, you can’t animate it,” explains Alberto Menache, co-founder of NPCx, which develops AI tools to capture human movement data for video games and films. “There are a lot of very good animators, but their expertise is mainly in stylized movements. But real human movements: some people get close, but the closer you get to that look, the weirder it looks. Your brain knows it.”
Still, early tests have shown that AI can accurately reproduce human movements and trick the brain. Meanche has already developed a tool that creates human faces, and he believes that with enough data, the human body could be next, although it’s a much more complicated system.
However, AI is not seen as a complete disadvantage for this field. The technology is already being used to assist these workers, allowing them to see their performance mapped to characters in real time, allowing them to better adapt to the model.
“That’s the thing about AI, the tool is pretty cool,” said SPIDER-MAN motion capture actor Seth Allyn. “The tool can help us a lot. But if the tool is used to replace us, then it’s not the tool’s fault, it’s the fault of the person using it.”
Movieguide® has already reported on the video game strike:
After more than a year and a half of ongoing negotiations, video game stakeholders represented by SAG-AFTRA have decided to go on strike due to unresolved issues in the field of artificial intelligence.
“Eighteen months of negotiations have shown us that our employers are not interested in fair, appropriate AI protections, but in blatant exploitation,” said Sarah Elmaleh, chair of the Interactive Media Agreement Negotiation Committee. “We reject this paradigm – we will not leave any of our members behind, nor will we wait any longer for adequate protections.”
“We look forward to working with our interim and independent contractor teams to provide transparency, consent and compensation related to AI for all performers, and to continuing to negotiate in good faith with this bargaining group when they are ready to join us in the world we all deserve,” Elmaleh continued.
Negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and video game studios began in October 2022. Even as Hollywood was hit by the twin strikes last summer, video game creators were willing to wait until major studios agreed to fair AI protections without forcing them to do so. Unfortunately, their patience did not pay off, and with negotiations stalled after nearly two years, they were forced to strike.
Like the writers’ and actors’ strikes, this new strike is almost entirely about protecting performers from AI. Given the growth of the technology over the past two years, the industry’s creatives want to cement job security in their contracts and prevent companies from being able to replace them with AI.
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