this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2024
304 points (98.4% liked)

Technology

59118 readers
3269 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

SAG-AFTRA Approves AI Voice Actors, Enrages the VA Community::SAG-AFTRA has approved AI voice actors and partnered with Replica Studios, enraging the voice acting community on a global scale.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] EdibleFriend 77 points 9 months ago (3 children)

...... Isn't sag the one that was just up in arms over AI? Wasn't that a huge part of the fucking protests?

[–] [email protected] 81 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)
[–] TwilightVulpine 12 points 9 months ago

Hah, clever and depressing remix of that classic quote.

[–] SinningStromgald 27 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Yes, but somehow this deal will be okay even though it looks like some pretty big names in the VO/A community were never asked for their opinion or approval.

[–] GuyDudeman 19 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

When it says "SAG-AFTRA Approves" - doesn't that imply that all union members were given a vote?

In fact, yes, yes it does...

"The agreement between the leading AI voice company and the world's largest performers’ union will enable Replica to engage SAG-AFTRA members under a fair, ethical agreement to safely create and license a digital replica of their voice. Licensed voices can be used in video game development and other interactive media projects from pre-production to final release.

Approved by affected members of the union’s voiceover performer community, this contract marks an important step towards the ethical use of AI voices..."

[–] TwilightVulpine 8 points 9 months ago

I see a lot of union voice actors speaking out on social media that they weren't even asked about this.

[–] rambaroo 6 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

"Approved by affected members" is the critical part of the quote. So no it absolutely wasn't "all union members", they evidently cherry picked who voted on this.

[–] GuyDudeman 2 points 9 months ago

Yes, keyword affected members... other members weren't affected. They didn't need the whole union vote.

[–] A7thStone 1 points 9 months ago

This definitely sounds like a case of the old union saying "Brother brother in the hall. In the field fuck 'em all".

[–] iforgotmyinstance 11 points 9 months ago (1 children)

The SAG protests were pretty transparently about protecting old money. Actors with hundreds to thousands of hours of footage already out there that can be easily turned into AI models.

[–] Death_Equity 5 points 9 months ago

You only need like an hour of clear voice samples to train an AI VA. More is better, but even a half hour can be enough to be passable.