The actors’ union SAG-AFTRA has raised a complaint against the developers of the popular Battle Royale Game Fortnite over their AI Darth Vader, which, according to them, was created while violating several terms of the agreement between the union and the developers.
According to the union, the developers managed to “replace the work of human performers with AI technology” without informing the union thus violating the terms of agreement thus triggering a complaint stating “unilateral changes to terms and conditions of employment, without providing notice to the union or the opportunity to bargain, by utilising AI-generated voices to replace bargaining unit work.”
“We must protect our right to bargain terms and conditions around uses of voice that replace the work of our members, including those who previously did the work of matching Darth Vader’s iconic rhythm and tone in video games,” read their statement.
While the replacement of artists with AI has been a prevalent problem in recent times, this goes to show that it can go wrong in more ways than one. Having AI generate a voice that cannot be distinguished from the real character is truly disturbing, as it goes to show how easily misuse of this technology can happen.
Epic Games is yet to respond to this, but with the laws surrounding AI being in a grey area, it will be hard to fight this in a legal way, and there is a possibility of a disappointing outcome if it goes to court.