SAG-AFTRA, the world’s largest labor union representing performers, announced Tuesday at CES 2024 that it has signed an agreement with artificial intelligence voice technology company Replica Studios. The agreement will allow union members to license digital replicas of their voices for use in video games.
As AI expands into more areas of life, its ability to mimic famous voices has been controversial. In 2023, an artist who goes by the name Ghostwriter released Heart on My Sleeve, a song that uses generative AI to mimic the voices of Drake and The Weeknd, though apparently neither of those stars had anything to do with the track. That song sparked a debate about Grammy eligibility, and Ghostwriter said at the time that he believed artists should financially benefit if AI copies their distinct voices.
Tuesday’s announcement marks the first time a group such as SAG-AFTRA has attempted to codify consent and compensation for AI replicas of performer voices.
AI and the Hollywood strike
AI was a major issue in the union’s 2023 strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which saw actors join already-striking writers on the picket lines in July. The strike ran until November, and was the longest movie and television strike in the union’s 90-year history. As a result, studios are now required to obtain consent from and pay actors for use of their AI-generated likenesses.
“Artificial intelligence has dominated the headlines, and for most performers, the best protection against the unauthorized digital simulation of their voice, likeness and/or performance is a SAG-AFTRA contract,” union president and actor Fran Drescher said in a statement Tuesday. SAG-AFTRA has over 160,000 members.
National executive director and chief SAG-AFTRA negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said at CES that the union had been involved with AI issues for almost a decade.
Replica Studios CEO Shreyas Nivas, who signed the agreement with Crabtree-Ireland at CES, called the…
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