Recent News About AI in Voice Acting

Voice Acting is a broad area classified as intellectual property, consisting of a large community and a wide range of work field. The most significant voicing field has been tv dubbing in the past for a long time. Recently it expanded into other media channels with the great progress and accessibility of technology. Today’s most famous area of voice acting is in video games.

What is Voice Acting?

Voice acting, also known as voicing or dubbing, is a type of performance where actors use their voices to represent a character or provide information to an audience. It is used across various media, including television, film, and more recently, video games. The process for voice acting usually begins with a casting step, where actors audition for roles. Most of the time, major companies entrust this process to casting directors that are more likely to work under a casting company.

Voicing Step in Game Development Process

Game development is a complex process that involves various stages. It typically begins with pre-production, where the game's concept is developed. This stage also includes creating the game's story, characters, and setting. Following pre-production, the production stage commences, where the actual development of the game takes place. This stage involves various teams working together to bring the game to life. Key tasks include coding the game's mechanics, creating art assets, and designing levels. Voice actors are also involved at this stage, lending their voices to the game's characters.

After the game has been developed, it moves into the post-production stage. Here, the game is tested to identify and fix any bugs or issues. It's also where any final adjustments are made based on the feedback received. Finally, once the game has been thoroughly tested, it goes into the distribution stage, where it's made available for purchase or download. Marketing strategies are also implemented at this stage to promote the game to potential players.

AI Help for Creating New Voices

Major game companies started to use AI to produce brand new voices and clone existing Voice Actors’ voices in their game developing processes. VAs (Voice Actors) are aware of that and it affects their relationships with companies. It is a well-known fact that companies have always been generating certain voices and sounds with technological tools in developing. But cloning existing voices is a brand-new thing which brings some issues to the table.

Some Examples

This situation can be observed from one of the actor’s perspective in Yin-Poole’s recent interview (2024) with the famous Roger Clark, the voice and motion capture actor for Read Dead Redemption 2 protagonist Arthur Morgan. In this interview, Clark states that he is aware of the situation and accepts that AI will be unavoidable and here to stay with controversy. When he’s asked about the possibilities of his voice to get “stolen” by Rockstar, company that developed RDR2, he expresses that there is nothing holding Rockstar back from doing this. Even though the video game players acknowledge and are very much respectful to voice actors’ performances, it is mostly up to the game companies to decide on what to do due to their commercial concerns.

Another case about this issue is more of a serious one. In a video interview held by Schmidt (2023), Voice Actor Remie Michelle Clarke tells the story of how she found out that her voice has been “stolen”. She explains that her sound engineer was the one to recognize her voice on a website, advertised as an AI voice generating tool. After consulting with lawyers, she decided to take action and reached out to the website, covering up her identity as a prospective client. She couldn't get a satisfying answer and ended up with just a rejection response. Sooner she finds out the reason of this in an old agreement she made with a company. Just a minor detail in that paper led to her giving consent to lend her voice for that company’s objectives. You can reach her website to hear the story from Remie herself. In this case, it would be correct to say that law has not caught up with technology. And it seems that it is not likely to since technology develops so much faster than law systems.

New SAG-AFTRA Deal and Members’ Reactions

The agreement between SAG-AFTRA and Replica Studios has been the main cause of this occurrence. SAG-AFTRA is the American union to protect rights of various media professions. SAG-AFTRA brings together two great American labor unions: Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. SAG-AFTRA states in their official website that the union represents approximately 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists and other media professionals. Replica Studios is an AI voice company, works as a voice library specializing in AI technology.

SAG-AFTRA introduces this agreement in the recent CES 2024 event. CES is an event held by CTA (Consumer Technology Association) where companies get the opportunity to present news about upcoming technologies or debut new products. Main purpose of the agreement is explained as a fair, ethical environment to safely create and license a digital replica of an actor’s voice. The union will allow Replica Studios to do business in the areas of replication and licensing. The main problem with the agreement is that it is worded in such a way that the content is approved by the union members, which leads to some backlash from voice actors. Considering the problematic cases mentioned at the beginning, it is a high possibility that the members are genuinely unaware of the situation behind the agreement. The approval of such an agreement would be a huge risk to the voice actor's career.

Clark (2024, known for Read Dead Redemption 2) said: If I can pay for permission to have an AI rendering of an ‘A-list’ voice actor’s performance for a fraction of their rate I have next to no incentive to employ 90% of the lesser known ‘working’ actors that make up the majority of the industry.

Taylor (2024, known for Pokémon) said: How has this agreement passed without notice or vote? “Voice to be used as a training data set”? Why can’t the actual actor be used for the videogame??? Every job brings a unique opportunity for an actor to …act. Encouraging/allowing AI replacement is a slippery slope downward.

Mitchells (2024, known for Baldur’s Gate 3) said: A disappointing agreement SAG-AFTRA have made regarding AI use. Studios will look past creativity for convenience and this will potentially have a detrimental effect on artists. I wasn't as concerned before but for the most influential trade union to accept this is troubling.

Young (2024, known for Star Wars) said: "Approved by affected members of the union’s voiceover performer community..." Uhhh, where and when @sagaftra ??? Wasn't aware of this until *just* now and I'm the exact type of member you're talking about.

Response From SAG-AFTRA Officials

Some SAG-AFTRA leaders and supporters point out that the agreement appears to be well within SAG-AFTRA's previously stated mission, not to ban AI voices altogether as Valentine (2024) states in their article. In response to the reactions, the main objective is explained as working with companies to ensure that actors have options and are fairly compensated and consulted when AI is used.

When Valentine (2024) reached for comment, SAG-AFTRA provided the following statement to IGN from Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator for SAG-AFTRA:

“Our AI deal with Replica Studios is an important step in ensuring the ethical application of these technologies in a way that ensures the use of members’ voices occurs only with informed consent and fair compensation. This is a deal that covers one company, with regard to the development of video games. This deal does not impact our IMA negotiations. Rather, it sets a model for our industry, building on the terms approved by 80% of our members just a month ago, and we hope to see more companies adopting agreements like this one.”

Despite creating so much controversy, it's important to note that while AI technology is increasingly being used in game development, including for voice acting, it's still a tool that supports the development process and doesn't replace the need for human input and creativity.

References

· Yin-Poole, W. (2024, March 4). ‘Before Rockstar, I Was Just a Jobbing Actor Off Broadway’: Arthur Morgan Actor Roger Clark on the Red Dead Redemption 2 Effect. IGN. Retrieved March 26, 2024, from https://www.ign.com/articles/before-rockstar-i-was-just-a-jobbing-actor-off-broadway-arthur-morgan-actor-roger-clark-on-the-red-dead-redemption-2-effect

· [VOPro.pro, by Paul Schmidt]. (2023, March 2). "AI STOLE My Voice!!!" - Voice Actor Remie Michelle Clarke [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/euU8e7_wZfg?si=5-luYRflOk4n4_8o

· Clarke, R. M. (2023, March 27). Time for the full story about me and AI... RMC. Retrieved March 26, 2024, from http://www.remiemichelleclarke.com/the-current/time-for-the-full-story-about-me-and-ai

· (n.d.). About. SAG-AFTRA. Retrieved March 27, 2024, from https://www.sagaftra.org/about

· (n.d.). About Replica Studios. Replica Studios. Retrieved March 27, 2024, from https://www.replicastudios.com/about

· (n.d.). About CES. CES. Retrieved March 27, 2024, from https://www.ces.tech/about-ces.aspx

· (2024, January 9). SAG-AFTRA and Replica Studios Introduce Groundbreaking AI Voice Agreement at CES. SAG-AFTRA. Retrieved March 27, 2024, from https://www.sagaftra.org/sag-aftra-and-replica-studios-introduce-groundbreaking-ai-voice-agreement-ces

· Clark, R. (2024, January 10). X (Formerly Twitter). Retrieved March 27, 2024, from https://x.com/rclark98/status/1744871251250659551

· Taylor, V. (2024, January 10). X (Formerly Twitter). Retrieved March 27, 2024, from https://twitter.com/TheVeronicaT/status/1744926599886119287

· Mitchells, T. (2024, January 10). X (Formerly Twitter). Retrieved March 27, 2024, from https://twitter.com/IAmTomMitchells/status/1745017459042632001

· Young, S. (2024, January 9). X (Formerly Twitter). Retrieved March 27, 2024, from https://twitter.com/shelby_young/status/1744805205949260249

· Valentine, R. (2024, January 10). Video Game Voice Actors Express Worry and Confusion After SAG-AFTRA Deal With AI Studio. IGN. Retrieved March 27, 2024, from https://www.ign.com/articles/video-game-voice-actors-sag-aftra-ai-deal