Video game voice actor union takes Fortnite's Darth Vader chatbot to court
1 min read
Summary
Epic Games has added an AI-voiced Darth Vader to its game Fortnite without the consent of the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA)
The actors’ union has filed a charge of unfair labour practices against Epic’s subsidiary, Llama Productions, for using AI voices to replace human voice actors without negotiation.
The filing claims Llama failed to notify the union of its plans to use AI and did not give it the opportunity to negotiate terms.
This is the latest dispute regarding the use of AI in Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) roles with SAG-AFTRA also currently in negotiations with genAI companies and publishers.
The use of AI in gaming is prompting debate on the ethics and legality of the technology.
This includes concerns over copyright infringement and the potential replacement of human workers with AI.
Epic’s use of Google and ElevenLab’s AI in its Vader chatbot has also prompted a $271m fine from France’s competition watchdog over copyright breaches.
