Digital doubles, fake trailers: AI worries Hollywood actors before labor
talks
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[June 01, 2023]
By Lisa Richwine
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A search for Wes Anderson on YouTube turns up
trailers that the famed director with a distinctive style appears to
have made for adaptations of "Star Wars," "Harry Potter" and "The Lord
of the Rings" featuring Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson and other stars.
Artificial intelligence allowed people with no real actors and far
smaller resources than major Hollywood studios to generate the fake
movie trailers, feeding debate on the issue that will be on the
bargaining table when the SAG-AFTRA actors union begins labor talks with
studios on June 7.
AI already has divided studios and striking film and television writers,
who want assurances that the emerging technology will not be used to
generate scripts.
SAG-AFTRA wants to ensure its members can control use of their "digital
doubles" and ensure studios pay the actual actors appropriately, said
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union's chief negotiator.
"The performer's name, likeness, voice, persona - those are the
performer's stock and trade," Crabtree-Ireland said. "It's really not
fair for companies to attempt to take advantage of that and not fairly
compensate performers when they're using their persona in that way."
Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves already have been the subject of widely
viewed unauthorized deepfakes - realistic yet fabricated videos created
by AI algorithms. Reeves called the technology "scary," in part because
it can be deployed without actors' input.
Interest in generative AI exploded globally after the November launch of
ChatGPT, the fastest growing app of all time, by Microsoft Corp-backed
OpenAI. U.S. and European regulators have demanded guardrails to prevent
misinformation, bias, violation of copyrights and invasion of privacy.
Actors and writers envision various scenarios in which studios could try
to cut costs and boost revenue using generative AI, which can be fed
existing material and pump out new content. The technology already is
used to erase age marks or alter mouth movements to sync with words when
programming is dubbed in various languages.
Actor Leland Morrill said he has worked on sets where he was surrounded
by cameras taking pictures from all angles.
"With that type of content, they could use you for part of it, and then
create the rest of the character, and then we're not on set anymore and
nobody gets paid," Morrill said at a multi-union rally in Los Angeles.
Producer, writer and former "Family Ties" actor Justine Bateman, holds a
degree in computer science and has been sounding the alarm about AI. She
said companies could allow fans to make their own "Star Wars" movie, and
add themselves for an extra fee.
Or, a studio could take footage from a popular 1980s TV show such as
"Family Ties" and make a new season with AI.
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Actress Marg Helgenberger (L), star of
the CBS TV network series "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and a
member of the Screen Actors Guild, walks a picket line along with
members of the Writers Guild of America at one of the gates to
Universal Studios in Los Angeles, California November 5, 2007. Some
12,000 screenwriters went on strike against the U.S. film and
television industry on Monday after the collapse of last-ditch
contract negotiations aimed at preserving nearly 20 years of
Hollywood labor peace. REUTERS/Fred Prouser/File Photo
YOUNGER YOU
Some actors have signed off on specific uses of AI.
The upcoming "Indiana Jones" movie features scenes where 80-year-old
star Harrison Ford appears 40 years younger. He said Walt Disney
Co's Lucasfilm used images of his face that were shot during
"Indiana Jones" films in the 1980s.
"It's fantastic," Ford raved about his youthful on-screen appearance
in an interview with late-night host Stephen Colbert.
James Earl Jones, now 92, agreed to allow AI to replicate the
menacing voice he gave to Darth Vader, according to Vanity Fair, so
the character could live on. AI helped Disney put the late Carrie
Fisher in 2019 film "The Rise of Skywalker," with the blessing of
her daughter.
SAG-AFTRA's Crabtree-Ireland said actors have varying comfort levels
with how AI is used, which is why the union will advocate for
informed consent in talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and
Television Producers (AMPTP), the group that represents Disney,
Netflix Inc and other studios.
A representative for the AMPTP had no comment on its position on use
of AI with actors.
In negotiations with the Writers Guild of America (WGA), the AMPTP
proposed discussing the topic once a year, which the Guild viewed as
an attempt to avoid the issue. The WGA has been on strike over AI
and compensation since May 2.
If SAG-AFTRA cannot reach a deal on AI and other issues, actors also
could go on strike, which would pile more pressure on the studios.
Ahead of negotiations, SAG-AFTRA leaders have asked members to
provide authorization to call a strike if needed. Voting on a strike
authorization ends Monday.
Both unions want safeguards in place before AI becomes widely used.
Bateman, a former SAG board member, derides AI as "automatic
imitation" that could lead to a future filled with rehashed
entertainment from the past.
"I don't want to live in that world," Bateman said. "What's the next
genre in film? What's the next genre in music? You're never going to
see anything like that if we're all using AI."
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Additional reporting by Jorge Ramos and
Dawn Chmielewski; Editing by Mary Milliken and David Gregorio)
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