Actress Ashly Burch has responded to the leaked AI Aloy footage, which made the rounds earlier this week.
The footage in question showed a Sony employee engaging with an on-screen AI version of the Horizon lead. The employee asked the AI Aloy a number of questions, such as “how are you”, to which the character replied she was ok, but “dealing with a sore throat”, before she shared some Horizon lore.
Now, Burch – who along with starring as Horizon’s Aloy has featured in a series such as Life is Strange, Borderlands and The Last of Us – has shared her thoughts on the leaked footage.
“I saw the tech demo earlier this week,” Burch said in a video shared on her social channels, adding Horizon developer Guerrilla had been in contact with her to say the “demo didn’t reflect anything that was actively in development”.
Meanwhile, Sony “didn’t use any of [Burch’s] performance” for the demo. “So none of my facial or voice data,” Aloy’s actress said. “Guerrilla owns Aloy as a character.”
But still, “I feel worried,” Burch continued. “Not worried about Guerrilla specifically, or Horizon, or my performance, or my career specifically, even. I feel worried about this art form.
“Game performance as an art form.”
Burch went on to speak about the current SAG-AFTRA strikes, of which AI is a big part of the discussion. “We’re asking for protections,” Burch said. “What we are fighting for is, you have to get our consent before you make an AI version of us in any form. You have to compensate us fairly and you have to tell us how you’re using this AI double.”
Burch added she doesn’t feel worried because the technology exists, or even because game companies want to use it, reasoning “of course they do – they always 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 no recourse,” the actress said. “They wouldn’t have any protections. Any way to fight back.
“And that possibility… it makes me so sad. It hurts my heart. It scares me.”
Burch stated she loves this industry and the creative art form. She wants there “to be a new generation of actors”, and for there to be “so many more incredible game performances” from those actors.
“I want to be able to continue, to do this job, and if we don’t win, then that future is really compromised,” Burch said. “I’m genuinely not trying to put any game company specifically on blast, certainly not Guerrilla, because again, I don’t think… the technology isn’t the problem. Game companies wanting to use the technology isn’t the problem. The problem is we are currently on strike and the bargaining group will not agree to give us common sense protections.”
Burch closed by stating she supports the strike, and always has. “Fighting is what we have to do to protect the future and longevity of this career we all love so much.”
You can see Burch’s full video via the embed below.
AI continues to be a hot topic and several video game developers have flirted with the technology. Last month, Microsoft trumpeted the announcement of Muse, a new “generative AI breakthrough” designed to aid “gameplay ideation”. Also in February, Take-Two Interactive boss Strauss Zelnick opened up about his views on AI, calling the concept of artificial intelligence “an oxymoron”.
Meanwhile, the Microsoft-owned Activision recently came under fire for its use of generative AI, admitting some in-game content in Call of Duty has been created using the technology.
