Voice actor Ashly Burch, known for her role as Aloy in Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West, shared her response to a controversial AI tech demo of her character leaked last week and, unsurprisingly, it has her worried about the future of the gaming industry.
Burch explained in a TikTok video, “Gorilla reached out to me to let me know that the demo didn’t reflect anything that was actively in development. They didn’t use any of my performance for the demo, so none of my facial or voice data.”
@ashly.burch let us speak on AI aloy
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♬ original sound – Ashly Burch
“All that said, I feel worried. And not worried about Gorilla 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’s response comes amidst an ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike hinging on protections for actors from the use of AI to replace them in the gaming industry.
SAG-AFTRA fought a similar battle in the film and TV industry back in 2023 alongside the Writers Guild of America. Now, video game voice and motion capture actors are also striking to protect their careers and the future of their industry from AI.
Ashly Burch summed up the situation in her video, stating, “The technology isn’t the problem, game companies wanting to use the technology isn’t the problem. The problem is that we are currently on strike and the bargaining group [for the game studios] will not agree to give us common sense protections.”
The leaked AI tech demo of Aloy is a stark warning about what the future of the gaming industry could look like if voice and motion capture artists don’t win their fight for AI protections.
The clip of the tech demo has been removed from YouTube, but the footage was noticeably more cold and robotic than Burch’s phenomenal performance as Aloy. It highlights all the nuance and heart we lose when the human element is taken out of game performances.
Fans are unhappy about the tech demo as well. As one Horizon player commented on Reddit, “If they use this AI tech in the next game. I will not be buying it or playing it.”
Another user called fans to support Burch, commenting, “As fans of games like Horizon, we should support the PEOPLE working to improve our entertainment experiences. I’m all for technical advancement, like she said. But it can’t replace people.”
While Burch reassured everyone in her video that her performance wasn’t used to train the AI Aloy shown in the tech demo, she admitted that the risk of actors’ performances being exploited or used without their permission for AI is very real.
“I feel worried not because the technology exists, 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,” Burch explained.
She added, “If we lose this fight, that person would have no recourse. They wouldn’t have any protections, any way to fight back. And that possibility… It makes me so sad.”
Actors and gamers alike are right to be worried about the future of the gaming industry. Voice and motion capture actors have become the heart and soul of so many great games and are getting much more recognition today than they once did.
Hopefully, game studios take notice of the response to the AI Aloy clip from Burch and Horizon fans. AI can be a helpful tool in gaming, but if it’s used to take actors out of the equation, that’s a loss for gamers and gaming as a powerful storytelling medium.
As Ashly Burch put it, “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. […] If we don’t win, then that future is really compromised.”