SAG-AFTRA strikes deal with AI company to ‘set a new standard for ethical AI use’

SAG-AFTRA, the American labor union representing actors and media professionals, has struck a deal with AI startup Narrativ. According to the union, it’s “setting a new standard for ethical AI use” through the partnership.

A report via Variety described Narrativ as a marketplace offering “tools to advertisers to create audio spots using AI tools.” The agreement between the AI company and SAG-AFTRA facilitates the usage of voice replicas for purposes of digital advertising. The claim is that this deal allows members of SAG-AFTRA to enter the marketplace in a way that promises fair payment for lending their voice.

SAF-AFTRA claims that this deal sets a new standard for ethical use of AI in voice work, but many are naturally nonplussed. SAG-AFTRA’s director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland seemingly understands how controversial this deal might prove, but asserts that this is a safer option for its members.

“Not all members will be interested in taking advantage of the opportunities that licensing their digital voice replicas might offer, and that’s understandable. But for those who do, you now have a safe option,” Duncan said. “Narrativ has agreed to our terms, and its platform is an excellent example of how A.I. can be ethically used, by putting compensation, informed consent and control in the hands of individual performers.”

For professionals in games, reactions seem less than optimistic about Narrativ and SAG-AFTRA deal. Many fear that this could be the catalyst for a string of events that harm both voice actors and the quality of the voice work present in the medium in general.

This is likely not the announcement anyone wanted after the union had gone on strike against the video game industry due to the lack of safeguards against AI.

That’s because, no matter how great the deals purposed by AI companies might seem to be, reasons not to trust AI companies keep popping up on an almost daily basis.

The fight for rights over voice actors’ rights has been a hard fought one for a while now, as even some big name voice actors seem to be blissfully unaware of the deal with the devil that they might be making – and of the bus they’re throwing all of their less-successful colleagues under. The fallout of this new deal remains to be seen.