Summary
- AI has become a huge threat to actors, developers, and more in the gaming and creative spaces.
- The French voice cast of Apex Legends just made a big move by unanimously rejecting a generative AI training contract.
- It’s not clear at the time of writing whether the voice actors will be replaced or if EA will back off.
The French voice actor behind Apex Legends‘ Wraith, Pascale Chemin, has shared a statement revealing that the whole cast refused to sign an agreement that meant their voices could be used for generative AI training.
Without a doubt, one of the biggest problems facing the creative industries at the moment is AI. It was bad enough when it first started emerging as a viable tool, but as it’s become more powerful in recent years, it’s threatening the livelihood of actors, artists, creators, and more. One of the biggest examples of this is voice actors.
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Generative AI has come a long way when it comes to voiceovers, and there are many studios and companies looking to make use of that. We’ve heard plenty of stories over the past year of companies asking voice actors to agree to their voice being taken over by AI in the future or to train generative AI systems, something that’s just come up again for Apex Legends.
Apex Legends’ French Voice Cast Refuse To Sign Agreement For Their Voices To Be Used In Generative AI Training
As pointed out by ResetEra user Rouk’, the French voice actor for Wraith, Pascale Chemin, shared a message on her Instagram page earlier today. The message doesn’t outright say that the game involved is Apex Legends, but Chemin tagged the rest of the actors working on the game, making it pretty clear what it’s in regards to.
In the message, Chemin says that the publisher (likely EA) sent the voice cast an annex of confidentiality that needed to be accepted before going to work. Chemin said the terms of the annex “weren’t acceptable” as they were seemingly telling the actors that their voices would be used to train generative AI.
The generative AI training annex that was shared has been rejected by Chemin and all 31 other French Apex Legends voice actors, who all wrote a collective letter of refusal to EA that’s awaiting an answer. Chemin notes earlier in the statement that refusing the terms meant giving up the role, so it seems unless EA backs off, the whole voice cast might end up replaced.
Without any hesitation, the 31 other VAs all refused to sign this annex. We wrote a collective letter of refusal that we sent to the publisher and are waiting for an answer. If we aren’t united now so that a clause that protects our voices can be officially added in our contracts – and not just for us here, but for every video game dubbing studios. – Pascale Chemin
Chemin ends the statement by noting that there’s “barely any work” available for voice actors, but that agreeing to train a tool that might end up replacing them is unacceptable. As of the time of writing, EA has yet to publish a statement, and it’s not clear if any other Apex Legends voice actors in different regions have been asked to sign the same agreement.
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