The use of AI is one of the most contentious points in modern culture, as people lean on it more and more, for everything from research and programming through to fashion tips and companionship. Within gaming and the wider arts, its use to replace voice actors and other professionals has opened up questions about putting hard-working actors out of work, and where these AI models have been trained – almost certainly on copyrighted material that has not approved that use. SAG-AFTRA, the labour union that represents 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists, influencers and other entertainment and media professionals, has made a fresh statement on where they stand on the use of AI performers.
The following statement was released following the announcement of “Tilly Norwood,” an A.I.-generated “actor” that is reportedly seeking representation:
“SAG-AFTRA believes creativity is, and should remain, human-centered. The union is opposed to the replacement of human performers by synthetics.
“To be clear, “Tilly Norwood” is not an actor, it’s a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers — without permission or compensation. It has no life experience to draw from, no emotion and, from what we’ve seen, audiences aren’t interested in watching computer-generated content untethered from the human experience. It doesn’t solve any “problem” — it creates the problem of using stolen performances to put actors out of work, jeopardizing performer livelihoods and devaluing human artistry.
“Additionally, signatory producers should be aware that they may not use synthetic performers without complying with our contractual obligations, which generally require notice and bargaining whenever a synthetic performer is going to be used.”
This conversation isn’t going to go away any time soon. AI should be used to improve and ease humanity’s daily struggles, not replace our artistic and creative ventures.
