A landmark deal with the on-line platform Narrativ, will allow members of the actors’ union SAG-AFTRA to license an AI replica of their voice for use in advertising. When the actors’ strike was resolved last year, part of the agreement was that actors had to provide explicit consent and that the union must be involved anytime AI was used to generate an actor’s performance. The deal with Narrativ fulfills these two prongs required by the new actors’ agreement.
Narrativ is self-described as a “marketplace for talent and their agents to license, manage, and protect their audio likeness while giving advertisers the ability to easily purchase that likeness for ad creation for podcast platforms, music services, and similar platforms”. The new deal between SAG-AFTRA and Narrativ will allow brands and actors to match based on a number of factors such as campaign goals, brand and talent values. The brand may then generate an advertisement in the voice of such actor using AI technology.
The safeguards in place in this agreement are that the talent must explicitly consent to work with the brand, the fee must be agreed upon (and in any case must meet or exceed the applicable SAG minimums), and the actor must be provided and approve the exact copy of the ad before the ad is generated. An actor can deny any advertisement request if the brand, the copy, or the compensation is not the right fit. Further, every ad that is generated using AI on the Narrativ platform will also have a pension and health contribution for the talent. SAG does not require its members to join the Narrativ platform; actors may choose to opt in.
This agreement is being touted as a way to allow actors to pursue a new revenue stream that was previously unavailable, using a relatively minimal effort. A leader in the AI tech sector put it well when he stated that “this is how AI should be used; as a tool that saves time and expands creative possibilities, not as a replacement for human artistry and talent”. Hopefully, this deal will live up that sentiment, and lead to more fair and balanced agreements between generative AI companies and entertainment industry stakeholders.
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