Amazon Studios faced allegations in a lawsuit of mimicking actor’s voice with AI during the SAG-AFTRA strike.
According to a lawsuit, Amazon MGM Studios (formerly known as Amazon Studios) mimicked actors’ voices with artificial intelligence (AI) during the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strike that took place from July 14 to November 9, 2023.
Amazon Denies The Use OF AI
The production business however denied the accusations and stated that it would fight the case in court. One of the original scriptwriters for the American action movie Road House (1989) Lance Hill, filed a lawsuit against Amazon Studios alleging copyright infringement and improper usage of AI during the film’s impending remake.
Hill asserts in an EW article stated that the studio started production on the Road House remake without first obtaining a license or waiting for the copyright to expire.
Hill claimed that Amazon deployed AI to meet the November 10, 2023 deadline in case performers were unavailable due to the actors’ strike. The lawsuit claims that the studio created artificial intelligence (AI) voices for the actors in the Road House adaptation. An Amazon MGM Studios representative stated:
“The lawsuit filed by R. Lance Hill regarding Road House today is completely without merit and numerous allegations are categorically false. The film does not use any AI in place of the actors’ voices
Another unverified EW source claimed artificial intelligence was not utilized to replicate the actors’ voices. They disclosed the potential use of AI in early production cuts, but they asserted that the studio had given the filmmakers advice to eliminate any AI from the finished version.
Prominent A-list actors like Jake Gyllenhaal, Conor McGregor, Post Malone, Daniela Melchior and Jessica Williams are part of the upcoming Road House adaptation.
The film will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on March 21. Prominent IT companies such as Amazon, IBM and Google have acted proactively to keep a lead in the developing generative AI sector.
As of 2023, market research estimated the global worth of generative AI at $12.1 billion, with a projected increase to $119.7 billion by 2032.
