How to Keep on Top of Technology When You Write About It

Nick Wingfield at home in Seattle with his Macbook and Apple watch. Credit Kyle Johnson for The New York Times
Nick Wingfield at home in Seattle with his Macbook and Apple watch. Credit Kyle Johnson for The New York Times
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How to Keep on Top of Technology When You Write About It

Nick Wingfield at home in Seattle with his Macbook and Apple watch. Credit Kyle Johnson for The New York Times
Nick Wingfield at home in Seattle with his Macbook and Apple watch. Credit Kyle Johnson for The New York Times

How do New York Times journalists use technology in their jobs and in their personal lives? Nick Wingfield, a technology reporter based in Seattle, discussed the tech he is using.

You cover Amazon and Microsoft. Do you use their technology?

The one technology constant in my career as a journalist seems to be Microsoft Word. I take notes for all of my stories in it on a MacBook Pro. I’ve tried Google Docs and OneNote, but can’t stick with them for reasons I can’t explain. I have a feeling I might be cremated with a copy of Microsoft Word.

Like most people, I buy a lot of stuff on Amazon, and I’ve tried most of their gadgets. I used an Echo for a while. My family mainly used it to turn on a lamp through a WeMo light switch with our voices. My kids enjoyed asking Alexa to play scatological sound effects. I enjoyed that too, if I’m being honest.

What do or don’t you like about their tech products that you use?

I find some of the things you can do on the Echo pretty silly and much easier on a smartphone app. I’ll give you an example. A while back I was installing a sprinkler system in my garden that was connected to a wireless control unit. I found out I could use the control unit with Alexa to turn on the sprinklers with my voice.

When I told Alexa to turn the sprinklers on, a geyser of water shot up six feet in the air from a pipe I hadn’t properly secured. I yelled every Alexa command I could think of to turn it off, but apparently she didn’t like my syntax, and the water kept gushing. I finally just opened the app for the sprinkler unit and turned it off. Also, most people have their sprinklers on timers so they don’t need voice control.

What are your favorite websites, apps or other tech tools for keeping on top of technology news?

I get so much of my news diet, technology or otherwise, through Twitter and, to a lesser extent, Facebook. I have configured my phone to send me a text message every time Jeff Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon, tweets because he’ll occasionally make news that way.

What tech gadgets or apps are you or your family currently obsessed with and why?

Another reason I’m not the most avid Echo user is that I like the sound from my Sonos speaker system better. Roughly 70 percent of the time I’m using Sonos to stream KCRW’s Eclectic24 music mix. The rest of the time, it’s Spotify and KUOW, my local NPR station. I pay for a Spotify family plan, which keeps my daughter’s playlists from contaminating my own and vice versa.

I am a contrarian on the Apple Watch, which I believe has been unfairly maligned by tech pundits. I love mine, and I get pretty frustrated by a lot of Apple products. I’m a runner and cyclist and track all of my workouts with it. I use Siri on the watch to respond to text messages.

Apple somehow managed to create a wearable device versatile enough that you can wear it on a run and with a suit. That’s impressive.

Are there technologies that you’re not crazy about?

I’ve never cared for reading books on screens, even though I almost exclusively read newspapers and magazines on my phone and computer.

I’m also skeptical of most kitchen gadgetry. I bought an Anova sous vide wand, which cooks meat and other proteins at precise, low temperatures in water baths. In most cases, I feel the results aren’t worth the effort. A cast iron pan is much cheaper, will never break and steaks taste better when prepared in one.

You once wrote about taking your kids to a video game little league. What video games are you, or they, now heavily into?

I don’t play video games. My son does. I’m embarrassed to say he spent a decent chunk of the summer wasting bad guys in Call of Duty. He also read a big stack of books and is a sweet, sensitive kid, which is how he got away with it.

What’s your advice about how much or how little kids should be on their devices and on games?

This is such a difficult issue. Most of my daughter’s homework is on a computer so policing her screen time is really about limiting certain applications or websites. The other day I gave her a hard time when I heard her listening to YouTube. It was for her Spanish class.

Overall, I try to encourage personal responsibility rather than hassle my kids all the time about their devices. It has worked so far.

(The New York Times)



Video Game Actors Are Voting on a New Contract. Here’s What It Means for AI in Gaming

A picketer holds a sign for the SAG-AFTRA video game strike at Warner Bros. Games headquarters on Aug. 1, 2024, in Burbank, Calif. (AP)
A picketer holds a sign for the SAG-AFTRA video game strike at Warner Bros. Games headquarters on Aug. 1, 2024, in Burbank, Calif. (AP)
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Video Game Actors Are Voting on a New Contract. Here’s What It Means for AI in Gaming

A picketer holds a sign for the SAG-AFTRA video game strike at Warner Bros. Games headquarters on Aug. 1, 2024, in Burbank, Calif. (AP)
A picketer holds a sign for the SAG-AFTRA video game strike at Warner Bros. Games headquarters on Aug. 1, 2024, in Burbank, Calif. (AP)

An 11-month strike by video game performers could formally end this week if members ratify a deal that delivers pay raises, control over their likenesses and artificial intelligence protections.

The agreement feels "like diamond amounts of pressure suddenly lifted," said Sarah Elmaleh, a voice actor and chair of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists' interactive branch negotiating committee.

Union members have until Wednesday at 5 p.m. Pacific to vote on ratifying the tentative agreement.

Voice and body performers for video games raised concerns that unregulated use of AI could displace them and threaten their artistic autonomy.

"It’s obviously far from resolved," Elmaleh said. "But the idea that that we’re in a zone where we might have concluded this feels like a lightening and a relief."

AI concerns are especially dire in the video game industry, where human performers infuse characters with distinctive movements, shrieks, falls and plot-twisting dialogue.

"I hope and I believe that our members, when they look back on this, will say all of the sacrifices and difficulty we put ourselves through to achieve this agreement will ultimately be worth it because we do have the key elements that we need to feel confident and moving forward in this business," said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the SAG-AFTRA national executive director and chief negotiator.

Here’s a look at the contract currently up for vote, and what it means for the future of the video game industry.

How did the current strike play out? Video game performers went on strike last July following nearly two years of failed negotiations with major game studios, as both sides remained split over generative AI regulations.

More than 160 games signed interim agreements accepting AI provisions SAG-AFTRA was seeking, the union said, which allowed some work to continue.

The video game industry is a massive global industry, generating an estimated $187 billion in 2024, according to game market forecaster Newzoo.

"OD," and "Physint" were two games delayed due to the strike during the filming and casting stage, video game developer Hideo Kojima wrote in December. Riot Games, a video game developer, announced that same month that some new skins in "League of Legends" would have to use existing voice-overs, since new content couldn't be recorded by striking actors. Skins are cosmetic items that can change the visual appearance of a player and is sometimes equipped with new voice-overs and unique recorded lines.

The proposed contract "builds on three decades of successful partnership between the interactive entertainment industry and the union" to deliver "historic wage increases" and "industry-leading AI provisions," wrote Audrey Cooling, a spokesperson for the video game producers involved in the deal.

"We look forward to continuing to work with performers to create new and engaging entertainment experiences for billions of players throughout the world," Cooling wrote.

Video game performers had previously gone on strike in October 2016, with a tentative deal reached 11 months later. That strike helped secure a bonus compensation structure for voice actors and performance capture artists. The agreement was ratified with 90% support, with 10% of members voting.

The proposed contract secures an increase in performer compensation of just over 15% upon ratification and an additional 3% increase each year of the three-year contract.

How would AI use change in video games? AI concerns have taken center stage as industries across various sectors attempt to keep up with the fast-evolving technology. It’s a fight that Hollywood writers and actors undertook during the historic film and TV strikes that forced the industry to a stop in 2023.

"In the last few years, it’s become obvious that we are at an inflection point where rules of the road have to be set for AI, and if they aren’t, the consequences are potentially very serious," Crabtree-Ireland said. "I think that really made this negotiation extra important for all of us."

SAG-AFTRA leaders have billed the issues behind the labor dispute — and AI in particular — as an existential crisis for performers. Game voice actors and motion capture artists’ likenesses, they say, could be replicated by AI and used without their consent and without fair compensation.

The proposed contract delineates clear restrictions on when and how video game companies can create digital replicas, which use AI to generate new performances that weren't recorded by an actor.

Employers must obtain written permission from a performer to create a digital replica — consent which must be granted during the performer’s lifetime and is valid after death unless otherwise limited, the contract states. The time spent creating a digital replica will be compensated as the same amount of work time it would have required for a new performance.

The agreement also requires the employer to provide the performer with a usage report that details how the replica was used and calculates the expected compensation.

Elmaleh, who has been voice acting since 2010 and had to turn down projects throughout the strike, said securing these gains required voice actors bring vulnerability and openness to the bargaining table.

"We talked a lot about the personal, the way it affects our displacement as workers and just the sustainability of our careers," Elmaleh said. "Our work involves your inner child. It’s being very vulnerable, it’s being playful."

What’s next for the video game industry? The tentative agreement centers on consent, compensation and transparency, which union leaders say are key elements needed for the industry to keep progressing.

As the contract is considered by union members, Elmaleh and Crabtree-Ireland said further work needs to be done to ensure the provisions are as broad as necessary.

"Even though there’s a deal that’s been made now, and we’ve locked in a lot of really crucial protections and guardrails, the things that we haven’t been able to achieve yet, we’re going to be continuing to fight for them," Crabtree-Ireland said. "Every time these contracts expire is our chance to improve upon them."

Elmaleh said she hopes both the video game companies and performers can soon work collaboratively to develop guidelines on AI as the technology evolves — a process she said should start well the proposed contract would expire in October 2028.

Leading negotiations has felt like a full-time job for Elmaleh, who took on the role in a volunteer capacity. As the efforts die down, she said she anxiously anticipates returning to video game acting in a landscape that is safer for performers.

Voice acting "is core to who I am. It’s why I fought so hard for this. I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t love what I do so much. I think it’s so special and worthy of protection," she said.