Hollywood Union Strikes AI Deal Allowing Advertisers to Legally Replicate Actors' Voices

SAG-AFTRA has reached an AI agreement with Narrativ, enabling advertisers to legally replicate actors' voices while ensuring performers' consent and compensation, marking a critical advancement in protecting digital rights.

Hollywood Union Secures AI Voice Replication Deal

On Wednesday, SAG-AFTRA, the organization representing Hollywood actors, unveiled a partnership with Narrativ, an online talent marketplace, that would allow actors to sell advertisers the right to use AI to mimic their voices, Reuters reports.

Actors are worried that AI may make it easier to steal their likenesses, so the new deal is an effort to give them a say in the usage of their voice reproductions and make sure they get paid for it.

“Not all members will be interested in taking advantage of the opportunities that licensing their digital voice replicas might offer, and that’s understandable,” SAG-AFTRA official Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said in a statement. "But for those who do, you now have a safe option."

Through Narrativ, advertisers, ad agencies, and actors may collaborate on AI-powered audio commercials.

New AI Agreement Ensures Actor Approval for Voice Use

As long as it's at least the same as the SAG-AFTRA minimum wage for audio ads, the actor can decide how much an advertiser can pay to digitally mimic their voice. Before using artificial voice reproduction in any advertisement, brands must have the performers' approval.

US News shares that the union praised the agreement with Narrativ for establishing a benchmark for the moral use of artificial intelligence-generated voice imitations in marketing. This year, actress Scarlett Johansson brought the risks to light when she claimed that OpenAI had stolen her voice for its AI system that mimics human speaking.

In last year's Hollywood strike—the first simultaneous strike by writers and actors in 63 years—technology was also a major concern.

Last month, motion-capture performers and voice actors from video games went on strike after failing to reach an agreement in labor contract talks centered on worker protections pertaining to artificial intelligence.

SAG-AFTRA Sets New AI Standards in Advertising

Every individual has the right to their own voice and likeness. Therefore, the NO FAKES Act would make it unlawful to copy AI without permission. This legislation has been presented in Congress. The Motion Picture Association, Disney, SAG-AFTRA, and the Recording Academy are all in favor of the measure.

There has been global worry over the proliferation of deepfakes, or extremely lifelike films created by AI using genuine voices and visuals. These videos have the potential to influence public opinion.