One month after the actors union ratified a contract with Hollywood studios that included artificial intelligence protections, SAG-AFTRA announced Tuesday it signed an agreement with an AI voice technology company to look at safe ways to use digital voice replicas.

What You Need To Know

  • SAG-AFTRA signed a deal with AI voice technology company Replica Studios

  • The deal allows Replica to contract with SAG-AFTRA members to create and license digital replicas of their voices for video games and other interactive media

  • The agreement was announced Tuesday during the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas

Under the agreement, Australia-based Replica Studios will be able to contract with SAG-AFTRA members to create and license digital replicas of their voices for video games and other interactive media.

“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 Fran Drescher said in a statement about the deal announced during this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. “This is a great example of AI being done right.”

The agreement was approved by the union’s voiceover performers as a first step towards creating employment opportunities that involve AI. The deal mandates performers’ consent and negotiation for use of their digital voice doubles. It also allows them the chance to opt out of their voice replicas being used continuously in new work.

The use of artificial intelligence was a major sticking point in the union’s almost four-month strike against the major Hollywood studios over the summer. From July through November, SAG-AFTRA’s 160,000 members walked off the job, demanding higher residual payments from streaming companies and safeguards over the use of artificial intelligence. The union ratified the contract in December, which included, for the first time, informed consent and compensation guardrails for AI.

A study about the strike released by Otis College of Art and Design in December said AI continues to be “a looming threat to employment in Hollywood, given its capacity to perform an increasing number of functions within the industry.”