Video game performers vote on contract that could end nearly three-year battle over AI
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Results will be announced soon after the vote ends at 5 p.m. Pacific.
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The 11-month strike 'was a grueling and excruciating process, ' Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the SAG-AFTRA national executive director and chief negotiator said before the voting period closed.
'I hope and I believe that our members, when they look back on this, will say all of the sacrifices and difficulty we put ourselves through to achieve this agreement will ultimately be worth it because we do have the key elements that we need to feel confident and moving forward in this business,' Crabtree-Ireland said.
The new contract secures 'industry-leading' AI protections, said Audrey Cooling, a spokesperson for the video game producers involved in the deal. The proposed contract delineates clear restrictions on when and how video game companies can create digital replicas, which use AI to generate new performances that weren't recorded by an actor.
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What's part of the tentative video game performers contract
Employers must obtain written permission from a performer to create a digital replica — consent which must be granted during the performer's lifetime and is valid after death unless otherwise limited, the contract states.
The time spent creating a digital replica will be compensated as work time, according to the agreement. The agreement also requires the employer to provide the performer with a usage report that details how the replica was used and calculates the expected compensation.
The contract also secured an increase in performer compensation of just over 15% upon ratification and an additional 3% increase each year of the three-year contract.
Increasing awareness and knowledge about the new AI provisions among union membership is crucial moving forward if the contract is ratified, Sarah Elmaleh, a voice actor and chair of the union's interactive branch negotiating committee, told The Associated Press before the voting period closed.
'Actually applying these guardrails in our work is going to take members paying attention, understanding what they should look out for, being engaged with their union and reporting things that look fishy or that are actually violations,' she said.
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