Comic-Con 2023: AI in Entertainment
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The entertainment industry is at an inflection point and that is certainly being felt acutely at Comic Con right now. It is why there was a press junket for AI in Entertainment, focusing primarly on voice actors. Amid both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, there’s been much conversation and acknowledgement of how artificial intelligence is impacting not just entertainment, but the lives of workers everywhere. The panelist Zeke Alton (The Calisto Protocol, SAG/AFTRA negotiating member), Duncan Crabtree-Ireland (SAG/AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator), Tim Friedlander (Record of Ragnarok, Ace Combat 7, president/founder of NAVA), Linsay Rousseau (Transformers: War for Cybertron, God of War Ragnarok), Ashly Burch (Mythic Quest, Horizon Zero Dawn), and Cissy Jones (The Owl House, Transformers Earthrise), walked us through their work, how AI has been used against voice over actors, and what if anything those of us who are not in these professions can do to help.
AI as an Existential Threat
Much of the conversation in this event (by virtue of the title) centered around the threats AI posed to their careers. These range from the obvious (AI becoming modus oerpandi for the voice over industry) to those many have yet to consider (how doing something as simple as a mod can impact the future earnings of a creative).
Voice over work doesn’t just simply exist people voicing video game characters or animation. It encompasses everything from dubbing, global localization, training videos, commercials, phone call lines, you name it. Because most of the VO community is not mega famous like say your Oscar winning actor, many of these aspects of their livelihoods get over looked. For every job that has the potential for this art, there’s essentially something that a human does/can do that a corporation is looking to take advantage of.
Fresh off their strike vote both Zeke and Duncan wanted to emphasize that the reason AI poses such a threat is that it is a tool that is implemented by corporations to serve their interests, not something that self-actualizes itself. As it pertains to voice over work, I found it incredibly illuminating as pointed out by Cissy that mod communities actually make a huge impact on the lives of performers as their NSFW takes using the voices of performers can actually harm those performers. It is really important that consumers understand how even the most frivolous acts we do can impact their lives.
Early Entry and Diversity Concerns
Chief among the concerns of the panelists and their industry brethren as a whole is the issues AI poses to those who want to enter into the indutrsy and bringing in new voices. Ashly Burch and Tim Friedlander highlighted that because of the current issues, there is great potential to squeeze out aspiring artists and take jobs away from them if things go unchecked. Perhaps hand in hand with this is concerns over diversity in the voice over industry. I questioned the panel about the threat AI posed in this regard because while it may be fun to have SpongeBob sing a gospel song on TikTok, there’s real harm in a machine doing a “Black voice” without a Black person. Zeke echoed this in his response saying that this is one of biggest issues with AI and used the example of an AI Batman, likely pulled from the mostly white 35-50 year old actors who played him, robbing the future opportunity of someone like Winston Duke, who recently voiced the character on Spotify. Because these are narrow systems, the implicit biases and isms that permeate our current society end up baked in with the technology.
What’s Ethical About AI?
Though some may find it surprising, none of the panelists are against technology, but rather want the focus shifted to how to use these tools ethically. Something like the recording of death screams which can be useful in protecting the voice of the actor could be an ethical solution to the AI problems. Additionally, involving them in the process of developing the tools is crucial to ensure that the actors needs can be met.
The Up to Date Climate
There’s a very simple wya of looking at the AI issue and that is by three key areas: laws, contracts, and tech. Part of the struggle so far has been the fact that laws can be incredibly slow at helping to deal with these issues. This is part of why collectively bargained contracts become so important and why a union like SAG-AFTRA is on strike. Tim highlighted the fact that right now his organization NAVA has been working around the work with other voice actor groups on language to go in the EU AI Act aimed at protecting voice over artists. However, we as consumers can certainly help in the fight to make sure the humanity can still be in art, by letting everyone know about the issues and informing our representatives about the need for legislation.
If you have time, I recommend listening to the full panel. It’s just under 2 hours:
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