Subscribe
Follow Us
During a Deadline exclusive interview with SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland spoke about AI protections for actors in the deal with the AMPTP.
Crabtree-Ireland told the entertainment website that the deal is about specific protections. These include the creation and use of digital replicas of the actors. The deal also goes into informed consent and compensation structures.
SAG-AFTRA vs. AI?
When asked about how this will work, the actors' union's chief negotiator replied, “Really, the theme around all of this is informed consent and fair compensation.”
Crabtree-Ireland goes to explain, “One way is to protect against the use of generative AI to create what we would call synthetic fakes, which are synthetic assets that are created out of potentially multiple actors inputs. Where there’s any kind of recognizable elements of that there will be protection and a right of consent, as well as a right for the union to be notified when they’re created and a right to bargain for compensation.”
Article Continues Below
He also spoke about the idea of zombie actors or using the likeness of a deceased actor in shows and movies.
“Where we’ve ended up is the producers will have to seek consent from the heirs or representatives of the estate of a deceased performer to get concerned for ad use of their image like this voice or performance and the creation of a digital replica, unless that consent was explicitly granted informed consent prior to the person’s death,” he explained.
Drescher added, “Also, part of the caveat of this negotiation is that the guild and the studios have agreed together to meet semi-annually so that we can always stay on the pulse of where technology is going. Because in many ways, we’re going to find ourselves on the same side fighting in Washington for a kind of legislation that protects all of us against piracy, and more.”
