Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West actor Ashly Burch, who plays main character Aloy across Guerrilla Games’ sci-fi franchise, is speaking up in the wake of a leaked video showing an AI-powered Aloy.
As reported by The Verge, the since-removed video showed an internal tech demo in which Sony Interactive Entertainment’s director of software engineering Sharwin Raghoebardajal held a conversation with an AI-powered Aloy. Raghoebardajal said in the video the AI Aloy was a prototype designed alongside Guerrilla Games to demonstrate what could be possible with the technology.
Burch took to TikTok over the weekend to say she had seen the leaked video and that Guerrilla Games had reached out to let her know that the AI tech demo did not use any of Burch’s performance data (voice and motion capture) and was not a project that was in active development. But that didn’t change the fact that Burch said the video made her worried, not about Guerrilla, Aloy, or her career specifically, but about game performance as a whole.
“I feel worried about game performance as an art form,” Burch said.
She went on to outline why the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), of which she is a member, is currently on strike as they seek protections and compensation for the use of AI in games based on an actor’s likeness or performance.
“I feel worried not because the technology exists,” Burch said. “Not even because game companies want to use it. 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. They wouldn’t have any protections–anyway to fight back. And that possibility, it makes me so sad it hurts my heart. It scares me. I love this industry and this art form so much and I want there to be a new generation of actors. I want there to be so many more incredible game performances. I want to be able to continue to do this job. If we don’t win, that future is really compromised.”
Burch went on to say that she was not trying to call out any game company, or Guerrilla, specifically in her video and said the technology in and of itself is not the problem. Instead, she said the problem is that bargaining groups involved in the strike won’t agree to “common-sense protections” that would help to protect the longevity of game performance as a career.
“I believe we deserve to be protected,” Burch said.
Burch’s comments come as AI becomes an increasingly hot topic in the game industry. In December 2024, Activision confirmed it had recast some members of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies cast amid the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. Meanwhile, some game companies like Remedy Entertainment have issued statements to clarify their stance on AI, with Remedy specifically stating it would not use it to replace creative jobs or actors.