Where performers' voices are used without permission.
“Is my voice out there in the modding and voice-changing community?
Do I have any control over what my voice can be used for?
Not at the moment.”
“AI is a tool, and like any tool, it requires regulation,” Menkin says.
And if our work is making your AI tool money, we want to be fairly remunerated."
That certainly seems a fair request.
- look up the AI Toolkit developed by@EquityUK.
“What the shit?!”
replied Mortal Kombat voice actor Richard Epcar.
ElevenLabs did not respond to Eurogamer’s request for comment.
Clearly consent is not always given.
After being made, mods with AI-cloned voices are then hosted on popular mod site Nexus Mods.
This is where Equity UK has stepped in.
Last month, Equity released its “ground-breaking AI toolkitto protect performers from a surge in unregulated technology”.
The government is also consulting on a pro-innovation approach to AI regulation, as outlined in arecent white paper.
“The work is being done, but legislation takes time,” Menkin says.
Menkin is adamant about increased regulation for the use of AI in gaming.
“Games and AI believe in self-regulation,” he says.
“We can no longer accept those terms, in the age of AI.”
“I am aware of the support on offer via Equity.
We are not able to call for industrial action, as our American counterparts are,” she says.
She adds: “The use of AI has moved faster than our ability to create boundaries around it.
It would be great for our government to act fast and provide assistance with this.”
Perry remains concerned about the future of AI and what it will mean for voice actors.
“I will have had seemingly no input into character creation.
And yet, it won’t be me.”
She adds that AI is “not all bad” and is suited to certain other jobs and industries.
“But we have to question this desire to eat our own tail,” she says.
We are seeing this already.
In the meantime, profit margins increase for already bloated corporations."
There is more work to be done, then.
But Equity - and other unions - are beginning to appreciate the real danger to actors that AI represents.
Yet until proper regulation is enforced, responsibility sadly lies with actors to protect themselves.
