Variety: Performing arts union Equity is launching a campaign around performers’ rights over artificial intelligence (AI).
They hope to persuade the U.K. government to introduce laws that will prevent companies using AI performance synthetisation – based on real performers’ voices and likeness – without their permission.
8 comments:
This is a really interesting article about how technology and theatre can come at odds with each other. Technological advancements like AI are often lauded as always positive, especially when they can push the boundaries of art, but often, because it is new territory, there are difficulties reconciling the use of technology with the rights of actors. Laws simply do not cover it because this had not existed before–the law has never had to cover AI. Compensation is also often an issue when new technology comes up–how will performers be compensated for their work? How will AI and its relationship with mimicking actors' image and voice be done in an equitable way? What happens when a performer's voice is used in an unfair and unauthorised manner? The number of questions that the introduction of AI into theatre brings is numerous and complicated, but they must be addressed in order to regulate a new and emerging aspect of the art form.
Whenever new technology comes into the fray of any industry, there’s always pushback against AI “taking our jobs”. However, entertainment is quite unique with their argument, considering that these giant conglomerates are using voice actors and sound designers to produce content that is then used as AI data to remove our jobs. I take these concerns very seriously, considering I’d love to have a job in 10 years, but I feel like this push against AI is quite reactionary in nature. New technology is always going to be integrated into the entertainment industry whether we like it or not. These new waves of tech are what have kept the cultural zeitgeist of the world moving forward throughout the 21st century and beyond, and I don’t think AI is going away anytime soon. What needs to happen is we as workers in entertainment need to stay on top of developments in AI tech, then use the power of unions and contracts to be able to work in tandem with AI while also protecting our rights and creative freedom. There’s no way to destroy this tech, so we must adapt with it.
I think this article is very interesting to read because of the developments that are being made in the artificial intelligence field and how dynamic a field artificial intelligence is becoming. I think this is one of the better articles on this page because it is talking about the developments of new laws for actors and “the talent” that are working and not being paid for their work. It was especially interesting to read about the legal battle between Bev Standing and TikTok. I hear that voice so often and never thought about the person behind it. To be fair the voice sounded very similar to the typical text-to-speech voice you hear everywhere. I’m glad the Standing was able to win her case against this huge social-media platform and hopefully in the following years, Actors’ Equity Union will extend their protection to voice actors as well, and hopefully it goes as far as the government to make protections for these actors.
First thing that caught my eye, how very like tiktok to blatantly use audio files they didn't have permission to use for their text to speech. Glad she won that settlement, compensation was 100% deserved for that ( no matter how much I might hate that text to speech voice).
Aside from that though, this is something that I figured was coming for a long time ever since the topic of AI-aided voiceovers and video became a real thing. A lot of people out there are unaware to what extent this field has advanced over time, and it's gotten to the point where professionals in the entertainment field have to be incredibly careful with the jobs they're taking, and what exactly those jobs entail.
I was caught a bit off guard seeing that audio artists were also being affected by this. Naturally, that includes me, so when I saw the statistic of audio artists being worried for their employment opportunities by this, I got a bit worried too. Here's hoping this campaign bears fruit.
Even going to CMU where it is extremely typical to see a robot roaming across campus or someone studying human-computer interaction, the idea of AI is so freaky to me and it does raise many concerns about rights and consent. It makes you wonder at what point can someone create a program that sounds and looks exactly like me without my permission then profit off of that. Since technology is rapidly getting more and more advanced, I think we have gotten to the point at which digitally creating a fake person's voice is in fact cheaper than paying the person for their time and skill. This is scary and frustrating because we can’t lose sight of the fact that the work of a voice over artist is an art and not something that should become cold and lifeless (literally). Many people are doing all they can right now to set boundaries and fight big companies so they can’t take people’s voices.
I have been reading quite a few articles about Artificial Intelligent and Arts, specifically the entertainment industry. From what I’ve read so far, it seems that the main problem currently is that there isn’t much, if any, laws and regulations covering AI and its copyrights. While the biggest selling point for AI is its ability to learn a material and then mimic, it does cause problems, such as the one mentioned in the article. Another issue that follows is that because the laws are unclear, performers and artists come across contracts with much ambiguity. This is obviously a very big issue because it means that the artists are not protected by law and cannot protect themselves. Companies can also use this for their own advantages and exploit artist without giving them proper credits. I don’t have a solution to this on the top of my mind, but I do see the necessity of having more regulation in AI’s art making.
I think this story serves as a good example of some of the dangers we face in a world where technology is rapidly and explosively expanding and being innovated on. Yes, there is understandable concern over the lack of laws and regulations in place around this new technology, and because of that gap, we must tread carefully, and hope that more moral heads prevail until those laws can be written. Innovation can't stop and wait for anyone, nor should it. AI is an especially tricky subject when it comes to people's rights and consent, because the whole concept of AI is that it should be able to mimic the complex thought patterns that make a person a person. For that, you have to start somewhere, at least for now. Especially in the realm of performance, where your voice and image are the commodities, you are selling, something that can mimic your features and sound is super dangerous for your livelihood. Do I think, especially at this point in time, that an AI-based on a performer could push them out and keep them from getting work. Absolutely not. The technology isn't nearly that advanced or good yet that people would just ignore that actual performer. However, the performer is still owed what is due to them for using their likeness.
I can’t believe I haven’t thought of this as a problem. This article really shows how our new technological age or “Information Age” is prescient to give us so many more problems that we haven’t thought of. We always talk about all the positives of artificial intelligence and never talk about the new problems that arise with the new technologies. I am very surprised that Actors equity is taking these steps to protects actors rights in the face of AI already right now. Performance synthetisation has been around for a while now, it’s been combines with advents in light and projection to bring back dead performers on television, like Tupac and Michael Jackson. But now given how some contracts give ownership of the media to the studios, it gives them the right to utilize the footage with out the permission from the actors. I think that the issue needs to be addressed as soon as possible to make sure that actors don’t get exploited for their work. This is really some crazy stuff
Post a Comment