SAG-AFTRA has signed an agreement with AI Tone company Ethovox to ensure that artists are safe and relatively compensated.
The guarantee will ensure that the actors involved in the development of Ethovox’s fundamental tone style consent to their tone being old and are compensated from the beginning. Actors will also receive current invoices for fashion day.
According to CEO Cissy Jones and CPO Julian Kwasneski, Ethovox’s style “will not be user-oriented” and the voices included “will not be identifiable in any of the speeches generated.”
Ethovox Guarantee was once licensed through SAG-AFTRA’s Company/Tutorial and Non-Broadcasting Committee. It was also announced and authorized through the union’s National Executive Committee.
“What will safeguard the livelihoods of voice actors in the age of AI is more contractual protection, not less,” said SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ire.
“That’s why SAG-AFTRA will continue to recognize AI corporations, like Ethovox, that believe in our union’s recommendations.
“Not everyone will want to work with an AI company, that’s understandable. But for those who intend to take advantage of the opportunities that AI offers, it is important that agreements require companies to obtain informed consent and provide fair compensation. However, [these protections]”This new era will become a ‘Wild West’ of AI misuse and exploitation.”
Ethovox CEO Cissy Jones added: “Ethovox is the only AI tone company owned and controlled by tone actors, and we are happy to partner with SAG-AFTRA in building an intelligence design artificial fundamental tone that prioritizes the interests of tone actors.
“AI should be an option. For that reason, we have reached out to the voice acting community throughout this process. Ethovox will continue to do so while demonstrating that artists can, and should, be compensated for contributing to the development ethical AI while maintaining consent and control over your voice data.”
Before this generation, SAG-AFTRA called for a video game crash campaign to provide important AI protections for its participants.
In September, the union will join its first AI coverage company for actors with Lightspeed LA.
