If you thought that SAG-AFTRA striking was so last year, we have some news that might surprise you. Variety has reported that the contract discussions by the guild and the major video game companies around the world have hit a bit of a road block, and that if no significant efforts are made to reach an agreement, a strike could be called once again.
The reason behind this is down to artificial intelligence once again. It's said that there are strong opinions from members of SAG-AFTRA and how AI is handled and used in the gaming sector, with many members pushing for an outright ban of the technology in the industry. SAG-AFTRA's national executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland understands that's highly unlikely to happen, but does also affirm that if guidelines and protections aren't put in place, a strike will happen, meaning actors and voice performers will not be lending their talents to the games sector until the strike is called off.
When asked about the likelihood of a strike, Crabtree-Ireland added, "50-50, or more likely than that we will go on strike in the next four to six weeks because of our inability to get past these issues."
He continued, "We want to make sure the implementation is human-centered and focused on augmentation [of production], not replacement of people."
We are seeing a growing use of AI work in the gaming sector, so it's not a huge surprise to hear that SAG-AFTRA wants to protect their members for the foreseeable future.