The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has filed an official complaint with the National Labor Relations Board against Llama Productions, a subsidiary of Epic Games, for using artificial intelligence (AI) to voice the character Darth Vader in the game Fortnite. This occurred without prior negotiations with the union.
This is reported by Finway
The situation became known after an incident where the AI version of Darth Vader made racist remarks during the themed event Galactic Battles. The complaint mentions the company’s failure to fulfill its obligations regarding good faith negotiations.
The Issue of AI Technology Usage
A SAG-AFTRA spokesperson emphasized:
“This case concerns the critically important role of the union in negotiating the replacement of human labor with AI technologies. We support the use of AI as a tool to enhance audience experience, but employers do not have the right to make such decisions without discussion with the union”
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Actors who are members of SAG-AFTRA have been on strike since July 2024, and the issue of AI usage in video games and dubbing is one of the key topics in negotiations. The union is asking the National Board to officially review the case and recognize the violations due to the failure to meet good faith negotiation conditions.
Potential Consequences for Epic Games
The complaint was filed after it became known that Llama Productions changed working conditions without informing the union and without providing an opportunity for discussion, using AI voices instead of human ones.
“Over the past six months, the company unilaterally changed working conditions without informing the union and without providing an opportunity for discussion, using AI voices instead of people”
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If violations are recognized, Llama Productions may be required to reinstate actors, pay compensation, and inform employees of their rights. However, the National Board does not impose fines. Currently, Epic Games has not commented on this situation, and the union did not reach out to the company before filing the complaint.
Particular attention is drawn to the issue of using the voices of actors who have already passed away, such as James Earl Jones, who voiced Darth Vader and licensed his voice for future projects. SAG-AFTRA emphasized that it recognizes the rights of actors and their heirs to control digital copies, but demands the preservation of collectively agreed working conditions.
It is worth noting that in September 2023, a group of American writers filed a lawsuit against OpenAI for the illegal use of their books to train large language models.