“Should I?” is an important question for actors to ask themselves throughout their careers. Whether it’s working for free, playing a potentially controversial role or appearing nude on stage or screen, the question of “should” can aid in difficult decision-making—especially when arguments for and against are more ethical than practical. There is no more relevant question in our industry today than “Should I use AI as an actor?” It’s a tough and murky topic, and it very much requires your focus.
If you’re asking yourself “should I use AI as an actor?”, you are likely struggling with the ethics of using the controversial tool that is artificial intelligence as a practicing artist. Arguments can be made for the use of AI by actors, with benefits to be found in research, marketing and the planning of one’s career. However, AI also represents an existential threat to the arts industry—particularly in the elimination of jobs in areas such as writing, voice and background acting (extras work).
Now, before we jack in: the purpose of this article isn’t to pass judgement on whether you do or don’t use AI in your acting career or your everyday life. Many people do, and it’s an increasingly normalised technological tool in society. However, the ethics of AI is important for everybody to consider. Make your own call, by all means. Just as long as you engage.
AI is Changing the Industry
In a previous article on this topic, we explored the way that AI is being used in the arts industry. It’s already responsible for some sweeping changes, particularly in fields such as casting, marketing, logistics and production.
However, when any innovation befalls an industry, the question to ask is this: who benefits most? Usually it’s those in charge. And, usually, sadly, those people aren’t actors.
Often, it feels like the industry is dead-set on replacing actors outright. Why? Because they’re expensive. They join unions, they ask for residuals, they demand silly things like money for rent and food and health insurance. Actors are an expensive item line in creative budgets, and as their popularity rises so does their value and their demands.
Put yourself in the shoes of a studio head, or a producer in charge of multiple expensive productions a year. If somebody approached you about reducing those costs … wouldn’t you hear them out?
This is why actors need to view AI as an existential threat. It’s already decimating jobs in fields such as extras work and voice acting. And while the star power of real, honest-to-goodness humans will keep AI from starring in films (just yet), the amount of smaller roles will keep diminishing while a cheaper, controllable alternative is available.
Not only available, but improving in leaps and bounds.
Surviving Progress
Of course, this has all happened before. In 1903, Frank Hanaway got paid to fall off a horse in The Great Train Robbery. This rendered him the world’s very first stunt performer. In the 122 years that followed, stunts have thrilled audiences and brought them in droves to see what filmmakers could think up next.
Then came Computer Generated Imagery. Suddenly, it was cheaper and easier to fall off a horse: you could animate and render it and get the same damn product. Better, even: the stunt performer falls perfectly every time—exactly to the director’s specifications. What happened to the stunt performers, you might be wondering? Many moved into coordination and choreography. Plenty became safety supervisors, and some even got in on the CGI game and learned to operate the machines that replaced them.
There are still stunt performers in the industry today. We salute those who perform in this dangerous, thrilling line of work.
The point we’re making here is that the creative industry has always been concerned with technology, with progress, with the latest thrill that brings audiences in droves to the theatre/cinema/penny arcade. Will we survive AI? Probably. But it’s a different kind of struggle.
The difference with AI is how wide-reaching the implications of this advance will be. It’s not just a matter of replacing stunt performers or actors, it’s the replacement of cinematographers, directors, technicians and (as always) writers. It’s a destruction and rebuild of the entire system. And actors might not survive this time.
Can People Tell the Difference Between AI and ‘Reality’?
You’d hope, right? Currently, people can tell the difference between an AI performance and a real one, but it’s getting harder. The technology is advancing at incredible rates, and these rates increase as the demand from customers increases.
Arguably, it’s much harder to detect AI in fields such as voice acting and extras work because the technology doesn’t need to ‘work’ as hard to create a complete rendering of that performance. A voice doesn’t need to ‘belong’ to a real performer if we never see their face. A crowd in the background of a shot in a movie only needs to look good in the wide angle.
Actors tend to be able to make the AI/reality distinction with greater clarity. As studies of human character, as empathy machines, we can quickly see what’s lacking from a performance that might sound fairly convincingly human.
But for many creators and consumers, they just don’t care. Sure, it might look or sound a little odd … but content is content. What’s more, they don’t connect a generated VO on TikTok to the conclusion that an artist won’t be paid for that work. The convenience, and the possibilities AI represents trump the short- and long-term needs of the individual.
What Can I Do About AI as an Actor?
These days, it is perfectly normal to feel powerless as an artist in the face of AI. It’s ubiquitous technology, used by millions, and it is growing increasingly sophisticated and integrated into our lives. Is AI here to stay? Probably. But that doesn’t mean that you have to give in immediately.
Take a stand in your own career. Avoid working with companies that regularly employ AI in their marketing or advertising copy—odds are they wouldn’t blink at replacing the acting talent they hire. For voice actors, be extremely careful in reading and signing contracts that may actually ask to use your voice for AI models in perpetuity.
Keep track of your legal rights in your state or country: don’t stand for practices that seek to violate that. If there are strikes, as there have been on multiple occasions in our industry about AI and copyright, never cross the picket line to support those who are looking to make a short-term buck.
Join your union. Educate yourself and your industry peers. Finally, talk to your family and friends—the people outside of the industry—and start conversations around the ethics of AI use. Let them know the implications of their actions. Or, simply, the consequences of taking no action at all.
The Hypocrisy of Selective AI Use
One final point in the “should I use AI as an actor” discussion. Can you make a distinction between career-destructive uses and everyday, personal ones? It’s one thing to use it to replace a voice artist. Surely it’s fine to use AI to write a wedding speech?
Here’s where our article starts to flirt with passing judgement. So rather than give in to this urge, we’ll flip things around and “evaluate” the question instead.
If you fear AI replacing you in the creative industry (or any industry), it’s probably best to limit your usage of these very same tools. To use them is to give them value and cede their usefulness, which gives them power in the market (or every market.)
Generating an image of your cat in Studio Ghibli-style art might not rob you of an acting job. But it’s robbing somebody somewhere of their livelihood. And eventually, as Martin Niemöller once posited, when they come for you there may be nobody left to speak for you.
Conclusion
So there you have it: our two cents and more on if you should use AI as an actor. There’s no neat way to sum up this topic, no bow to put neatly on this discussion. This conversation continues, as it damn well should.
At StageMilk, we don’t want to put ethical decisions into your head. We’re not here to plead our case and curse you for thinking different. Nor is this community the place for our personal opinions on AI, although you can probably guess where we come down.
What we do ask you, as colleagues in this craft and career we share, is to draw your own line. Think about it, research it, discuss it, draw it deep. And then stand by it.
Whatever comes.
