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Title: Actors Who Sold AI Avatars Stuck In Black Mirror-Esque Dystopia

Link: https://slashdot.org/story/25/04/18/202223/ac...

Some actors who sold their likenesses to AI video companies like Synthesia
now regret the decision, after finding their digital avatars used in
misleading, embarrassing, or politically charged content. Ars Technica
reports: Among them is a 29-year-old New York-based actor, Adam Coy, who
licensed rights to his face and voice to a company called MCM for one year
for $1,000 without thinking, "am I crossing a line by doing this?" His
partner's mother later found videos where he appeared as a doomsayer
predicting disasters, he told the AFP. South Korean actor Simon Lee's AI
likeness was similarly used to spook naive Internet users but in a
potentially more harmful way. He told the AFP that he was "stunned" to find
his AI avatar promoting "questionable health cures on TikTok and Instagram,"
feeling ashamed to have his face linked to obvious scams. [...] Even a
company publicly committed to ethically developing AI avatars and preventing
their use in harmful content like Synthesia can't guarantee that its content
moderation will catch everything. A British actor, Connor Yeates, told the
AFP that his video was "used to promote Ibrahim Traore, the president of
Burkina Faso who took power in a coup in 2022" in violation of Synthesia's
terms. [...] Yeates was paid about $5,000 for a three-year contract with
Synthesia that he signed simply because he doesn't "have rich parents and
needed the money." But he likely couldn't have foreseen his face being used
for propaganda, as even Synthesia didn't anticipate that outcome. Others may
not like their AI avatar videos but consider the financial reward high enough
to make up for the sting. Coy confirmed that money motivated his decision,
and while he found it "surreal" to be depicted as a con artist selling a
dystopian future, that didn't stop him from concluding that "it's decent
money for little work." Potentially improving the climate for actors,
Synthesia is forming a talent program that it claims will give actors a voice
in decision-making about AI avatars. "By involving actors in decision-making
processes, we aim to create a culture of mutual respect and continuous
improvement," Synthesia's blog said.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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