SAG-AFTRA Fears AI Threatens Video Game Workers
Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists has authorized its members employed in the interactive media industry at giant games studios - including Activision, Epic Games, and Electronic Arts - to strike.
[...] In its announcement, Guild president Fran Drescher said AI is partly to blame for the impasse. The statement explains that plenty of work covered by the Interactive Media Agreement is "performance capture" in which artists, some of them stunt performers, "provide digitally captured performances used to give expressive movement to video game characters."
Using AI to replace those performances "poses an enormous threat to these artists' professions," the Guild asserts.
[...] The Guild wants AI protections for its members, and an initial wage rise of 11 percent dated to the expiration of the current deal, plus four percent increases in the second and third years of a new deal. The Guild argues those hikes are "necessary for members' wages to keep up with inflation."
Authorizing the strike doesn't mean it will happen - the Guild's announcement simply means members head into their next round of negotiations, from late September, with approval to withdraw labor.
A representative of the games companies whose staff could strike told CNN the outfits she represents want to reach a fair deal that reflects the value Guild workers bring to games - and sort it out soon.
[...] The concurrent strikes by actors and writers are already kicking holes in broadcasters' and streamers' schedules. Some shows have been suspended indefinitely and others - like the planned Apple TV series Metropolis, based on the classic sci-fi film - have been cancelled outright.
If games suffer the same fate, that could make for a poor holiday season - the peak sales period for game publishers - if not this year, then perhaps in 2024 given the long development cycle required to produce premium games.
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.