CMU School of Drama


Thursday, April 11, 2024

SAG-AFTRA Seeks to Write AI Protections Into California Law

variety.com: Would you buy a car from an AI chatbot? What if it looked and talked like Tom Hanks? These are the sorts of questions kicking around Sacramento, where lawmakers are considering a slew of proposals to regulate artificial intelligence.

2 comments:

Carly Tamborello said...

It’s crazy to me that this is controversial. It absolutely should not be allowed for people to use AI to continue to impersonate and perpetuate someone’s likeness without their consent, especially to turn a profit. It’s creepy. You can tell that the MPA is bringing up these concerns as distractors, because they are already addressed in the bill –– the bill is not trying to stop traditional VFX practices, documentaries, or any of the things like that which have been happening in the industry for years. This is about replicating someone’s likeness to create new work or make it seem like it’s actually them performing, without having to pay them or get their consent. Why are we so determined to replace humans with robots and artificial intelligence? I guess that rhetorical question has an answer, and it’s money, but it’s still very disheartening to see that there is a price on humanity for these executives.

Penny Preovolos said...

While it always makes me nervous to see more restrictive laws come into place like the limitation of something, I can completely understand why Sag Aftra would want to include laws like this in California. The idea of your personal work, or even your own face being stolen is terrifying. And while I am sure that I do not even come close to understanding the full capabilities of AI, the little bits that I do understand make me see that it is important to protect your intellectual property. And while I am not sure exactly what this prospective law may detail I do think it is important to think about the way we want to go about protecting our intellectual property. I am not entirely sure how this will be integrated into California law, but I'm sure it will be years before the cohesive and successful legislature is integrated into it.