In proportion to the pace and level of development of artificial intelligence, concerns about its use in industries commonly treated as creative are growing. Photographers, painters, singers, writers and representatives of the film industry often express their dissatisfaction. This last group seems to be the most transparent.
Quite recently, Amazon decided to show that the development of AI does not have to mean completely killing the film industry. Then a special event was organized to present films generated using language models and all the tools used for this purpose. Taking into account the interest in this topic, this can be considered a success.
Not everyone in the film industry is as enthusiastic about it. Actors have the most reservations in this situation, as they fear that the new technology will deprive them of their jobs and at the same time use their own achievements for this purpose. The group of artists working in the video game sector who have been on strike in the US for some time may soon be joined by their colleagues from Great Britain.
Actors’ strikes in the USA are the result of fears of losing their jobs
First of all, it is worth outlining some context of the entire strike that began in the United States. It all started with members of the SAG-Aftra union, who since July 2024 have categorically refused to cooperate with companies creating video games. We are talking specifically about companies such as Activision, Disney, Warner Bros. Games or Electronic Arts.
The reason why the actors decided to take such actions are the movements of these companies in the field of artificial intelligence and its implementation in games. They are primarily concerned with the growing risk of replacing actors with generated voices, which will still use the achievements of real artists. Ultimately, this would mean that corporations on the path of least costs would be able to generate gigantic results for themselves, while capitalizing on the work of others.
Very importantly, many talks between actors and enterprises have been held since the strikes began, but no specific compromise has been reached at any stage. For this reason, the actors’ protest continues and there are many indications that it will last for some time and will negatively affect the production processes of some high-budget games.
British actors may join the strike
The latest information coming from the UK suggests that local voice actors who focus on video games will also go on strike. It is even possible that this has already begun in some form, as evidenced by the lack of English audio in the latest update to the quite popular game Genshin Impact. The Chinese studio miHoYo claims that the lack of dubbing is the result of the timing and arrangement of the recordings, but this is quite inconsistent with subsequent comments from the artists.
He expressed his opinion on the actors’ strike, among others: Doug Cockle, who is best known for voicing Geralt of Rivia in the English versions of The Witcher games.
Some studios stopped making their games, so the voiceover industry slowed down completely. SAG-Aftra actors are striking not only for themselves. They are striking for the entire creative industry. If they can strike a good deal, it could be a model for other industries.
-Doug Cockle
The same actor admits that he would like to join his American colleagues in the strike, but there is no legal basis for this. He is not a member of SAG-Aftra and lives in Great Britain.
Other British voice actors speak in a very similar tone, expressing their support for this initiative. If the situation of the protests initiated by SAG-Aftra is not resolved quickly, it may be a matter of time before other similar initiatives are created in the European Union or Great Britain.
Profit or respect for artists?
The actors’ strike is, of course, one of the examples of how some groups of artists are forced to fight for their rights and position on the market. It is certain that corporations approaching the topic, being focused only on profit, will not particularly care about any artists.
It is no big secret that the use of AI in all areas of creative work saves companies a lot of time and money. This fits perfectly into the idea of minimizing costs and maximizing profits, which ultimately aims to satisfy investors.
For this reason, the strike of American actors focused on video games may have a huge impact on the entire creative industry. The fate of other creative professions will depend on their actions. Therefore, it is even more important to watch what they will ultimately achieve.
