LOS ANGELES — As AI technology continues advancing, video game voice actors are concerned for what that may mean for their careers.

Video games have come a long way since “Pong” and “Space Invaders.” The medium is now full of rich storytelling that makes use of everything from high-octane action to fantastical exploration. And that is all made possible by folks behind the scenes like Cissy Jones, who has voiced characters on massively popular games like Firewatch and Telltale’s the Walking Dead. 

“I am personally drawn to the big, narrative, juicy storytelling,” Jones said. “There’s always going to be a place for ‘grenade, get down, take cover.’ It’s gotten me to insurance a couple of times, but I love storytelling.”

The tools to tell those stories are also rapidly evolving. As with other industries, artificial intelligence has become an increasingly prevalent tool in game development, and that has made some voice actors like Jones worried for their livelihoods.

“The trickiest part right now with voice over and AI is, it’s really easy to steal someone’s voice,” Jones said. “In the beginning of 2020, it took, I want to say, six hours to get a good dataset to create a believable digital double of your voice. Beginning of 2022, it took about four hours, and as of today, there are companies claiming they can do it within three seconds.”

After discovering that her own voice had been stolen and put on several websites, Jones began working with members of the National Association of Voice Actors to develop a framework on how AI could ethically be integrated into the voice acting industry.

“The three main things that we talk about are consent, control and compensation,” Jones said. “Consent: I know my voice is being turned into a digital double. Control: being able to agree to what my voice is going to be used on. Compensation: if you’re going to use my voice, that is recognized by people, you should have to pay me for it.”

Jones says that legal regulations and standards set by organized labor will also be an integral part of ensuring AI is ethically integrated into voice acting and creative industries more broadly. 

Last month, SAG-AFTRA announced a deal with Replica Studios, an AI technology company, that, according to co-founder and CEO Shreyas Nivas, had been working on an ethical and fair digital replica licensing agreement with the union for over two years.

“We wanted to build a very ethical company in the space,” Nivas said. “What do I mean by ethical company? If you’re going to be cloning somebody’s voice, you have to be doing it with their express consent, with their express permission.”

Nivas says that even though creativity remains a largely human endeavor, AI can be used as a tool to make creative work far more efficient, which is why he says providing safe and legal licensing models to creative studios is so important.

“AI is a force-multiplier,” Nivas said. “They’re able to achieve things that previously might have taken them five days, but now they’re able to achieve a prototype in a single day, or multiple prototypes in a single day. The ability to iterate very quickly with AI as a tool is very empowering.”

Nivas also says that even though AI may seem like a threat to some voice actors, he believes the technology will create more opportunities for them than it takes away. 

As for Jones, even though she has serious hesitations about the technology, she recognizes the possible opportunities created by AI, so she too helped found a digital voice duplication company, Morpheme. She says by having voice actors directly involved in the company, she hopes Morpheme will be well-equipped to safeguard the future of the voice acting industry. 

“I do think we have a really good opportunity to put some standards in place, to make sure that this incredible technology is used for the highest good,” Jones said. 

As AI continues advancing, voice actors like Jones are nervous about the future, but they remain hopeful that their humanity will continue being part of what makes video games come to life.