Hi-Rez Studios, the developer behind Smite and Paladins, has updated a contract to remove mention of replicating the voices of dead actors using AI after receiving major backlash from voice actors and players.
Hi-Rez president Stewart Chisam took to Twitter to share the updated version of the rider, which sees a controversial clause that previously allowed the studio to employ AI to recreate “synthetic” voice performances from dead or otherwise “incapacitated” actors for their games.
The controversy began when voice actor Henry Schrader (Genshin Impact, One Piece, BLUELOCK) took to Twitter earlier this week to claim that Hi-Rez would be “using AI to clone voices,” and “refused to add in any words to contracts that would protect actors from it.”
Schrader also alleged that some voice actors he had spoken to were unable to see the contract in question prior to signing an NDA to confirm “whether something could be added to protect them” from having their voices used for AI. “This means that VAs who sign that NDA can’t even warn people who might be new or might not know better against working for them,” he added.
Stewart Chisam responded to the claims and said the voice actor was “full of 💩” regarding the AI claims, alongside part of a clause from the mentioned rider which states, “Client agrees not to use, or sublicense, the Performance to simulate Talent’s voice or likeness to create any synthesized or “digital double” voice or likeness of Talent.”
Marin M. Miller, a voice actor with credits in Destiny 2: Lightfall and Diablo IV, joined the discussion to allege that contracts they claim to have seen allowed Hi-Rez to “simulate the talents’ voice after they die.”
After mounting pressure, Chisam shared the full rider to Twitter, which does appear to include mention of creating “synthetic performances” should an actor die or become “unable to perform at any foreseeable time.” The previous clause reads (in part):
“Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event of Talent’s death or incapacity that leaves Talent unable to perform at any foreseeable time, Client shall be permitted to use the Performance or recording(s) or other digital representation(s) of the Performances of Talent to produce new audio, images, and/or video of Talent’s voice and/or likeness (a ‘Synthetic Performance’).”
Based on this, it does appear that Hi-Rez had a clause allowing them to use AI to replicate voice actor performances in the circumstance that they themselves could not perform (more specifically in the event of their death). Alongside sharing the full rider, Chisam also further commented on the controversy and the clause’s inclusion.
“Is the part about using synthetic voices in the event of the actor’s death potentially a bit of lawyers gone wild? Maybe. But it’s a legitimate use case and fairly narrow,” he said. Chisam went on to add that Hi-Rez would “never say never in terms of use of AI, in part because “AI” is much too broad an umbrella that captures a massive range of potential use cases,” and due to being unable to predict the future for AI both in the short and long term. Despite this, he said that he thought it would “be scuzzy and weird to use a human actor’s voice for AI work without their permission so that’s [not] something we have an intention to do.”
In a statement shared with GamesRadar, Chisam said that “the clause around death was not that important to us and so narrow in our use case we would probably never use it.” He also said that he believed the lawyers wanted to cover a range of contingencies, “and the way it’s worded seemed reasonable.”
Chisam also said that he had asked lawyers to remove the section regarding Hi-Rez using dead actors’ voices through AI. “When I was asked to review it (the rider), it seemed reasonable and I approved it, but it’s not really a clause I give a shit about,” he told GamesRadar.
The contract clause has now been updated to read in its entirety, “Client agrees not to use, or sublicense, the Performance to simulate Talent’s voice or likeness or to create any synthesized or “digital double” voice or likeness of Talent.”
The use of AI to replicate actors’ performances in both games and other media has been a point of contention, particularly in recent months, including in the current WGA strike, which has seen productions across Hollywood forced to shut down and delay while negotiations and industrial action continues.
While it appears Hi-Rez has rolled back its reign to use AI for voice acting work in this instance, it’s likely we’ll continue to see this conversation crop up as the technology continues to see sustained and growing use (such as the use of AI for art in a recent Dungeons & Dragons sourcebook).
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