The Hollywood Sag-Affra actors union announced Monday that it demanded the producers of a Fortnite video game for the use of artificial intelligence to generate the voice of the villain of “The War of the Galaxies”, Darth Vader.
The Fortnite developer company announced last week that the family of the late James Earl Jones had authorized him to recreate Darth Vader based on the vocalization made by the actor in the famous science fiction saga.
With AI models, the Epic Games company introduced the emperor advisor to Battle Royale, a version of Fortnite in which squads are formed to defeat other online contestants.
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Users quickly adopted the character in their missions, and published clips of their interactions with one of the most famous cinema villains.
But, far from seeming him fun, the American film-federation actors union of television and radio artists (SAG-AFTRA) said that the use of video games leaves the interpreters without work.
“We must protect our right to negotiate the terms and conditions around the uses of voices that replace the work of our members, including those who did the work to match the iconic rhythm and tone of Darth Vader in video games,” the guild said in a statement.
The union, which claims to represent about 160,000 people, said that the Epic Games subsidiary that produced the game did not talk to its negotiators about how AI in the video game would be used.
The SAG-AFTRA said he presented a Demana for unfair labor practice before the NLRB, a federal agency that protects workers’ rights.
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Photo: AFP Technology
Epic Games did not answer an AFP consultation on the subject at the moment, but in a statement published last week, he indicated that Jones’ family was satisfied with the project.
Concern about the use of AI in cinema, television and video games increased among the actors, which included this issue in their contractual negotiations during the conflict that paralyzed the American audiovisual industry in 2023.
In the United States, this is part of the claims of the strike that affects several video game giants, including Activision, Disney, Electronic Arts and Warner Bros. Games, since July 2024.
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