Aloy actor Ashly Burch has said that she is worried about the future of video game performance as an art form, following the release of a video that appeared to be an AI-generated version of Burch’s character.
This week, a video surfaced that appeared to be an AI performance double of Aloy, Burch’s character from the Horizon series. The video, which seemingly wasn’t meant for public consumption, caused a stir online, especially in light of the current SAG-AFTRA strike against this style of AI performance.
Now, Aloy’s original actor, Ashly Burch, has said that while developer Gurreilla Games reached out and assured her that this video wasn’t reflective of anything that was currently being worked on, she’s worried for the future of the industry.
“I wanted to talk about AI Aloy,” Burch said in a video posted to her TikTok account.
“I saw the tech demo earlier this week. Guerrilla reached out to let me know that the demo didn’t reflect anything that was actively in development. They didn’t use any of my performance for the demo, none of my facial or voice data. Guerrilla owns Aloy as a character.”
“I feel worried, and not worried about Guerrilla specifically or Horizon or my performance or my career specifically, even I feel worried about this art form, game performance.
“We are currently on strike. SAG-AFTRA is currently on strike against video games because of AI, because this technology exists, and because we know that game companies want to use it. We are asking for protections.”
SAG-AFTRA currently offers interim agreements between actors and employers, which are vetted by the union and, if approved, allow them to perform the role while strike action is ongoing.
“I feel worried not because the technology exists, not even because game companies want to use it, because of course they want to use technological advancements, I just imagine a video like this coming out, that does have someone’s performance attached to it, that does have someone’s voice or face or movement, and the possibility that if we lose this fight, that person would have more recourse.”
In February, Bungie confirmed that some of the dialogue in its newly released Destiny 2: Heresy content is missing due to the strike.
“Due to the on-going SAG-AFTRA strike, you may notice certain voice lines being silent in-game,” the studio warned players. “However, we have enabled subtitles by default for this release to ensure players do not miss any narrative content.”
