Hollywood union secures agreement allowing AI voice replication for advertisers

The Hollywood actors’ union, SAG-AFTRA, has agreed with the online talent marketplace Narrativ, allowing actors to sell the rights to digitally replicate their voices using AI. The following deal addresses growing concerns among performers about the potential theft of their likenesses through AI, providing them with a way to earn income and retain control over how their voice replicas are used. Actors can set the price for their digital voice, ensuring it meets at least the union’s minimum pay standards, and advertisers must obtain consent for each use.

SAG-AFTRA has praised this agreement as a model for the ethical use of AI in advertising, emphasising the importance of safeguarding performers’ rights in the digital age. The issue of AI-driven voice replication has been a significant concern in Hollywood, highlighted by actress Scarlett Johansson’s accusations against OpenAI for the unauthorised use of her voice. That concern was also central to last year’s Hollywood strike and remains a key issue in ongoing labour disputes involving video game voice actors and motion-capture performers.

In response to the rise of AI-generated deepfakes and their potential misuse, the NO FAKES Act has been introduced in Congress, aiming to make unauthorised AI copying of a person’s voice and likeness illegal. The bill has gained support from major industry players, including SAG-AFTRA, Disney, and The Recording Academy, reflecting widespread concern over the implications of AI in entertainment and beyond.