Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1498689
60 SAG-AFTRA | Spring 2023 | sagaftra.org How SAG-AFTRA Contracts Protect You SAG-AFTRA's focus on contract provisions includes these critical terms: Safe storage of the performer's voice, likeness and performance, and the products and content created from them. The right to consent — or not consent — to digitally created new performances, and to bargain for fair compensation. The right to consent to use of voice, likeness and performance to train AI systems. The right for a performer to control or opt out of continued use and production. If you have questions, email aiquestions@sagafra.org. many addendums to performer contracts attempting to secure these rights, and it's extremely important that members know that these rights must be bargained with the union. If you see language like this in your riders, please email it to aiquestions@sagaftra.org." "Stay alert, and stay in conversation with your peers and your union," she said. "It's going to take everyone's sustained attention, engagement, and solidarity on this issue to not let tech entirely dictate the framework and course of our creative and financial futures." Members should also alert the union for any unauthorized uses of their voice, likeness or performance. For example, if a voice actor discovers their voice being used in a project they were never hired to do, perhaps with the aid of AI saying things they never said, they should contact SAG-AFTRA immediately. The union has spent years ensuring that its members are part of the conversation when it comes to new developments in technology. From its thorough research on industry trends and forecasts, to its continuing presence at technology expos and engagement with tech luminaries, to the proposals put forward at the negotiating table, the union is ensuring that member's voices are being heard at every stage and that their needs remain at the forefront as we step into uncharted territory. Throughout it all, two of the main guiding principles are that creators must provide consent for the use of AI to create new work/performances, and they must be properly compensated. "Know what rights you are granting, not just in AI contracts, but generally when granting rights to your likeness and voice. Many of the AI contracts we have seen are overly broad and provide the performer little to no protection over their digital self, even those that claim to be performer friendly. The rights someone grants now can follow — and even haunt — them for the rest of their career. These are exciting new areas, but performers should make sure they maintain some control over their digital self and are fairly compensated for its use," said SAG-AFTRA Senior Assistant General Counsel, Contracts Danielle Van Lier. "Creative storytelling is fundamentally human, and humans should remain at the center of the story. SAG-AFTRA has always embraced technological change, but we have done so with our longstanding mandate to protect actors, recording artists and broadcasters foremost in mind. We will work with our industry partners to negotiate fair terms and conditions for AI uses, and we will partner with them to advocate for smart AI policies. Most importantly, we G enerative AI can assemble believable images and text, but it's not always factually accurate. Although the creators of ChatGPT have implemented safeguards to prevent mis- information, they are not always adequate, and the tool has been known to present falsehoods as the truth. When it comes to image and video, it can be even easier to create something that's believable at first glance. In late March, a photo of Pope Francis in a slightly ridiculous puffy jacket was widely shared on social media, and most people took it at face value. Buzzfeed News reported that the photo was generated using Midjourney by a 31-year-old construction worker from the Chicago area. Notably, the story does bear the byline of a human, so at least that was seemingly not created by an AI. As AI creations become easier to use, the risks of their being used to spread misinformation — or simply, without context, being mistaken for the real deal, as the pope picture was — grows. It's another potential pitfall that will have to be considered as the technology goes mainstream. POPE OR NOPE?