Los Angeles, USA, July 26 (EFE) – Hollywood video game actors have decided to go on strike on Thursday after contract negotiations with major video game studios collapsed over the protection of artificial intelligence.
The strike, called by the Screen Actors Guild of America (SAG-AFTRA), which includes video game voice actors and motion capture artists, goes into effect on Friday after nearly two years of negotiations to reach a new interactive media agreement.
“Despite reaching an agreement on many issues important to SAG-AFTRA members, the employers refuse to explicitly affirm in clear and enforceable language that the AI language will protect all performers covered by this contract,” SAG-AFTRA said in a statement.
Without this protection, the video game giants could “misuse AI” to replicate actors' voices and likenesses without their consent or fair financial compensation, the union added.
“We will not agree to contracts that allow the companies to abuse AI to the harm of our members. Enough is enough. When these companies come serious about a contract that allows our members to live and work, we stand ready to negotiate,” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher added.
The union passed a resolution in September with the signatures of more than 35,000 members to authorize strikes to push for wage increases and protect workers from artificial intelligence under a new agreement after the old one expires in November 2022.
“Eighteen months of negotiations have shown us that our employers are not interested in fair and reasonable AI protections, but rather in blatant exploitation,” said Sarah Elmaleh, chair of the Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating Committee.
“We reject this paradigm. We will not leave any of our members behind and we will not wait any longer for adequate protection,” she added. EFE
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