SAG-AFTRA ratified new contracts for voice actors this week. Announced Friday night, they include new protections for voice actors over the use of artificial intelligence.
Specifically, the new contracts dictate that “the term ‘voice actor’ only includes humans” and that producers will be required to obtain legal consent from an actor prior to using their name as a prompt to create an AI-generated voice.
If AI is used to alter a voice actor’s performance into a foreign language and the performance is exhibited, “the voice actor shall be eligible for all applicable residuals based on that exhibition.” Producers are also required to notify the union and negotiate with them should they choose to use an AI-generated voice rather than a human voice actor in a production.