Celebrities are embracing a whole new approach to Artificial Intelligence (AI) – if they can't beat it, join it.
From Neymar's AI-created avatar courtesy of Puma to Jack Nicklus' venture with Soul Machines, these luminaries are asserting ownership over their digital counterparts in a bid to maintain control amid a surge of unauthorized online content.
But as The Wall Street Journal reports, such collaboration offers both unique opportunities and inherent risks. Ward and Smith intellectual property attorney Erica Rogers weighed in on the liabilities associated with such endeavors — namely, control and ownership of AI-generated likenesses — in an article titled "Celebrities Use AI to Take Control of Their Own Images" (unfortunately behind a paywall).
To summarize the discussion with WSJ reporter Patrick Coffee, Erica expressed concerns about the lack of control from a brand's perspective when using AI-generated conversations conducted by digital celebrities. She questions whether the potential benefits outweigh the risks in such cases.
The algorithms powering digital versions of celebrities like Carmelo Anthony and Jack Nicklaus are trained on extensive interviews to mimic their speech patterns and determine their responses to different questions. Soul Machines, the company behind these AI celebrities, takes precautions to ensure that the AI celebrities stay on message and avoid making offensive remarks. For instance, they created their own large-language model specifically for Nicklaus rather than using existing tools like ChatGPT.
The article also highlighted the concern of determining the legal ownership of AI-generated likenesses. Erica argues that there needs to be a standard verification process in the tech, marketing, and entertainment industries to protect both celebrities and consumers who may be deceived by deepfakes (artificially manipulated media).
It's clear that the use of AI is a double-edged sword; however, with the right precautions, celebrities can harness the power of this technology and take control of their own images. To access the complete article, kindly subscribe to Wall Street Journal.
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