Just hours after launching a strike against major video game companies, SAG-AFTRA made headlines at San Diego Comic-Con by speaking out about the “existential threat” of artificial intelligence, which the group says has been blocking new contracts for nearly two years.
During a convention panel on Friday morning, Ashly Burch, Nosir Dalal, Sara Elmaleh and Shannon Woodward discussed the strike (wearing SAG-AFTRA strike shirts) and received thunderous applause from fans.
“AI is a big concern, especially for professions like voice acting and acting,” said Burch, who is known for her roles in film and TV shows. Mythic Quest and Horizon Forbidden West“So we have to stand up, because the protections that employers have offered are woefully inadequate and will leave far too many people unemployed.”
Burch added that he hopes to discuss their broader efforts on hugely popular video games, such as: The Last of Us Part II“It just shows how irreplaceable we are.”
Elmaleh, who chairs the Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating Committee, explained that the convention is exempt from the voice actors' strike rules, meaning that voice actors are free to promote their projects this weekend — a departure from last year's strike against the union's film and TV contract, which prevented actors from talking about their work at all.
“We're really excited about this being a visible and vocal voice about what we're working on, that we love working on it, and of course what it takes to protect it forever,” she said.
On the AI code needed to forge consensus, Elmaleh said: “We want to collaborate, and if we recreate the kind of agency that we have in the kind of work we do now, there is a world in which we can have that conversation.”
She explained that their contractual provisions are “built on consent.” [and] “Transparency is the basis for meaningful consent and appropriate compensation. We are willing to work with you, but we need to have a conversation about how this tool will be used, and we have that right.”
Feelings of a strike have been building in recent months since SAG-AFTRA's national executive director said in March that the union was moving in that direction, and last week the national committee gave Crabtree Ireland the authority to call a strike if she sees fit.
The 10 companies targeted in the strike are Activision Productions Inc., Blindlight LLC, Disney Character Voices Inc., Electronic Arts Productions Inc., Epic Games, Inc., Formosa Interactive LLC, Insomniac Games Inc., Take 2 Productions Inc., VoiceWorks Productions Inc. and WB Games Inc.
