SAG-AFTRA Files Unfair Labor Practice Vs. Epic Games Over Fortnite’s AI Darth Vader

Does SAG-AFTRA have a point to make this complaint?

SAG-AFTRA has made a strong, but questionable response to AI Darth Vader.

As Epic Games revealed last week, they added AI Darth Vader to Fortnite after working closely with Disney, LucasArts, and James Earl Jones’ heirs. In 2022, Jones made it clear that he wanted Disney to keep using his voice as Darth Vader, and so he approved that they use AI to recreate his voice in the future.

Epic Games knew that AI Darth Vader could be prodded to say things out of line, even if the players just want to have fun. They shared clear guidelines on how it would work:

Players under the age of 13, or below their country’s digital age of consent (whichever is higher), will need parental permission to engage in conversation with the character.

When players talk to Vader, Epic Games securely processes the voice audio to generate Vader’s responses, but audio and transcriptions of the conversation are not stored. Players can also report anything Darth Vader says.

SAG-AFTRA has now chimed in on this use of AI. In their words:

We celebrate the right of our members and their estates to control the use of their digital replicas and welcome the use of new technologies to allow new generations to share in the enjoyment of those legacies and renowned roles. However, we must protect our right to bargain terms and conditions around uses of voice that replace the work of our members, including those who previously did the work of matching Darth Vader’s iconic rhythm and tone in video games.

As a result, SAG-AFTRA has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board, with Llama Productions, the name standing in for Epic Games in their union contract. Current political conditions aside, the NLRB has previously ruled in SAG-AFTRA’s favor on several cases. So in theory, their decision could let SAG-AFTRA get their way when it comes to AI Darth Vader.

However, they aren’t guaranteed success in this regard, as the NLRB, and the US government, doesn’t always find that supporting labor rights means supporting unions. It is for this reason that the National Labor Relations Act, the law that established the NLRB in 1935, also reinforced right-to-work laws. These are laws that allow workers to seek employment in unionized workplaces but choose not join said unions.

Since the merits of this case will be decided by the actual rules and procedures, and not the court of public opinion, we’ll have to wait for what the NLRB says. This decision will determine the future of the SAG-AFTRA, which happens to also have an ongoing strike vs. several video game companies, as well as potential rules regarding AI for voice actors in video games and other media.

In the meantime, if all of this made you curious enough to see AI Darth Vader for yourself, you can learn how to find him in Fortnite using our guide here.