“We have to reject the idea that [AI] is just something that will happen to us and we can’t say anything about it,” he said SAG-AFTRA national executive, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland at the start of a panel focused on AI and entertainment. “I think it definitely can, the question is whether we are I will let it happen.”
Diversity reports that Crabtree-Ireland joined the voice actors for an intimate panel at San Diego Comic-Con, discussing the specifics of the threat posed by generative artificial intelligence to artists and working actors. The panel featured voice actors who are part of the National Association of Voice Actors (NAVA), including Linsay Rousseau (God of War: Ragnarok), Ashly Burch (A mythical quest), Cissy Jones (House of owls), Zeke Alton (Call of duty) and Tim Friedlander (Record of Ragnarok). Friedlander is also the president and founder of NAVA.
The panel primarily discussed how to mitigate concerns about allowing AI to generate lines that actors have not consented to or agreed to read. Actors have talked about putting talent clauses first in contracts and starting companies that would ensure that any artificial intelligence is used in agreement with actors and also include provisions for appropriate compensation.
Crabtree-Ireland stated that beyond the fight against artificial intelligence in the entertainment industry, artificial intelligence is an existential threat, not necessarily because of what it can do now, but because of how it might be used in the future and who might use it. “We could all stand up against the misuse of technology and really say, ‘We’re going to say what can be done with our bodies, our voices, our faces, our faces,’ and we have to do that.”
“I don’t want the next generation of voice actors to not have the potential to build a life like we’ve been able to build in this business,” Burch said. The panel also discussed that fact-controlling language is already commonplace in contracts, and without adequate protection, “your first job could potentially be your last job,” Friedlander said.
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