Jennifer Hale, voice actress of Metal Gear Solid, Baldur's Gate, and Mass Effect, weighs in on SAGAFTRA's strike against the games industry

In an interview with Variety's Jennifer Hale, who has a long list of credits including Mass Effect, Planescape: Torment and the original Baldur’s Gate, defended SAG-AFTRA's continued negotiations with major publishers by focusing on AI protections. Since July 26, videogame voice actors are on strike against publishers such as EA, Activision and Disney.

Hale told Variety, "AI is going to affect us all, because AI is a tool, like a hammer." If I took my hammer I could build you an entire house. I can also smash your skin with that same hammer, and destroy who you really are."

Voice actors are concerned about the proper crediting and compensation of their work, just as visual artists have been for years. The reproduction or imitation of a particular voice is more important than other types of media. This is because the data generated by individual creators to train an AI model can be absorbed into a data slurry.

Amelia Tyler, the narrator of Baldur's Gate 3, said that noncommercial reproductions of voice actors' works "steal not only my job but my identity." Wes Johnson, a prolific Elder Scrolls and Fallout actor, wrote on X "The Everything App": "Anyone trying to create a Mod using an actor's Voice via AI *without consent* is wrong." Cheap AI voiceovers have already changed videogame modding. We'd argue that it has been for the worse.

Hale's own summary of SAG-AFTRA demands is pretty straightforward: "If you are using something that originated from our body or voice, can we please be paid?" You're using technology now to take our ability to feed our children."

Hale also linked the strike to broader issues of equity in video games: She received $1200 for her role as Naomi Hunter in Metal Gear Solid's original, while the game grossed over $176 million. "I wish everyone would keep asking the real question: 'There is a lot of profit being made here.'" Where does it go? Hale's argument is far more compelling than SAG-AFTRA’s current strike, given the difference between the average salary of game developers and the gaming executives, who are adamant on mass firings of the people that make the games we enjoy.

Hale's iconic performance in the Metal Gear series is also a little ironic, as it includes themes of the reality being gradually replaced by a digital replica for political control. She now has to speak in an economic and a political battle about the digital facsimiles that are infiltrating our lives. Hale encouraged fans and supporters to contact their congressional representatives to support initiatives such as the NO FAKES Act.