New Delhi: As concerns over artificial intelligence taking over entertainment industry jobs in the United States swirl, actor Cate Blanchett co-founded a non-profit organisation to help artists get ownership and consent over how AI uses their creative identity, including their name, image and likeness.
RSL Media is a free-to-use platform, and will be launched in June. The platform will allow anyone to have the rightful ownership and consent on their work used by AI, with the motive that consent should come first. RSL will turn consent into a signal that AI can read.
Blanchett, in a post on RSL Media’s website, said that the rapid growth of AI is unregulated and humans should stay a step further ahead of it.
“AI technologies are expanding rampantly, essentially unchecked and unregulated. In order for humans to remain in front of these technologies, consent must be the first consideration. RSL Media is a simple, effective and free solutions-based technology for facilitating and activating consent,” the Ocean’s 8 (2018) actor wrote.
Nick Hexum, the co-founder and CEO of RSl media, shared how AI can not respect rights until there are rules to be followed. He added that this initiative will set a standard for human consent on likeness.
“The right to decide whether AI can use your work or identity should not be reserved for only those who can afford lawyers or have platforms big enough to be heard, it is a basic human right. RSL Media was created to make those choices clear so people can set their own terms, responsible companies can honor them and policymakers have a practical way to make AI protections work in the real world.” Hexum said.
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Celebrities fight against AI use
Hollywood actors have previously been vocal about ownership and consent over their likeness. Actors like Matthew McConaughey protected his likeness and famous dialogue “Alright, alright, alright” from the movie Dazed and Confused (1993), while Tom Hanks warned fans on social media about advertisements circulating online that falsely used his name, voice and likeness through AI, cautioning people against being misled.
“These ads have been created without my consent, fraudulently and through AI. I have nothing to do with these posts or the products and treatments, or the spokespeople touting these cures,” Hanks posted.
In India, actors like Amitabh Bachchan have secured personality rights over their name, photograph, voice and signature after instances of AI misuse. Salman Khan, Vivek Oberoi and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, among others, have also taken legal steps to protect their identity and likeness from unauthorised AI-generation.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)