On Tuesday, California State Governor Gavin Newsom passed two bills protecting actors and screenwriters from AI use.
The first bill prohibits replicas of deceased actors in films, TV shows, video games, audiobooks, sound recordings and more without consent of the actors’ estate. The second requires actors to be legally represented in negotiating a contract if their voice is to be replicated and used.
Newsom’s new policies come just about a year after the Writer’s Guild of America strike, which called for better pay and stricter laws around the use of AI in film. The strike came to an end in September 2023, after a new contract was made with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
In a forum held at the USC School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) in April 2023, the consensus was that AI could facilitate faster iterations of works like script drafts, storyboards and production design as a tool rather than as a creator.
“What excites me for myself is being able to use it like a tool to accelerate the process and to see what you have and don’t have more quickly and inexpensively,” Athena Wickham, a SCA alumna as well as the executive producer of Westword and The Peripheral, said. “What scares me is people getting lazy with it. I do worry that… someone hasn’t taken the time to edit it and put their own spin on it and that’s going to piss me off.”
In 2024 ShowCAIS, the signature event for The USC Center for AI in Society (CAIS), Stephen Gibler, a Hollywood producer and USC School of Cinematic Arts adjunct assistant professor, explored AI’s emerging role in democratizing film production through his presentation “Democratizing Hollywood: Envisioning a Future with Singular AI-Driven Film Creation.”
“Film making usually is made all at once… Now because of how quickly AI can change and build stuff, we can actually make a film very quickly and be riskier with ideas,” Gibler said.
However, demands are continuously circulating and increased conversation has been had surrounding the ethics of AI in film.
Annika Brown, a freshman studying animation, does not think AI should be used in film making at all. “It’s thievery, and it’s wrong,” Brown said. “It… steals from other people’s work without crediting them [and] it kind of takes away from the beauty of human-made art.”
Brown finds Newsom’s newly passed bill to be a first step in protecting the creativity of artists. “Our society is kind of heavily driven by art and replacing the people who make that come alive,” she said.
Concern shared by students in USC’s Cinematic Arts Schools is growing and evident. “I think it’s really scary. I think that it has the potential to take away a lot of creative freedom,” said Isadora Swann, a senior double majoring in NGOs and Social Change and Theater with an emphasis in acting.
“I think everyone should be aware and be given the choice to have their entity in their form, be uploaded into AI software.” With the newly-released bills, Swann feels safer within the industry.
“I, as an actor, would definitely want to be aware and want to be able to have the choice to say no before that was done to my body and my voice,” she said.
Despite concerns regarding the protection of actors and writers’ creative work, students also recognize the benefits AI in film may have.
Olivia Robitaille, a freshman studying screenwriting, believed AI could be helpful in parts of her work for “spelling and grammar and just anything correcting yourself.” However, when it comes to the story itself, like characters, locations and plot, she said these are “things that are actually important to us building the story” and “should be left to the writer.”
California is not the only state who is enhancing protections for creative spaces in AI. On July 31, 2024, the The Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe (NO FAKES) act was introduced into Congress, protecting the “voice and visual likeness of all individuals” from AI.
Lawmakers are rushing to pass laws and regulations to monitor AI’s use as new companies release AI video generation tools. Adobe Premiere plans to release a generative AI tool later this year. The new tool will allow users to create videos or images from text in Photoshop and Premiere.
“To me, AI is always an assistance, not a replacement for anything in life,” said Jennifer Zhang, a sophomore studying AI for Business. “I think especially in the US, we have trouble with controlling these markets that are so profitable to us. I’m glad that California has done this. I think this is the right direction. It is just like a continuous process, and it’s ever changing.”