UK artists’ union launches campaign to ‘stop AI stealing the show’

DUBAI: Equity, a UK-based union of over 47,000 artists, has launched the “Stop AI stealing the show” campaign against artificial intelligence technologies that it argues threaten the livelihood of artists and performers.

In its report, the organization indicated that the problem is two-fold. Firstly, many artists engaging with AI work aren’t compensated fairly, if at all, and secondly, it has become increasingly common for performers to have their work used without their permission.

Moreover, 79 percent of performers who have undertaken AI work felt they did not have a full understanding of their rights before signing the contract, according to a survey conducted by the union.

The emergence of “deepfake” technology, which is used to produce lifelike videos of famous people, is especially threatening. One performer told Equity: “I previously filmed for a large/high-end production company where I was told that I had to have a 3D body scan for VFX purposes, but it was not explained what this really meant. Having already signed NDAs (non-disclosure agreements), I later found out that the production would be able to reproduce my body scan not only for the film but for other purposes across the production and related media.”

Over 65 percent of survey respondents thought the development of AI technology poses a threat to employment opportunities in the performing arts sector, with this number rising to a massive 93 percent for audio artists.

Evidently, the threat is even more severe for audio artists with one of them telling Equity that “voiceover work could be wiped out” and another saying: “I once made the mistake of participating in what turned out to be a voice synthesis recording. I was not made aware of what it was going to be used for.”

Equity is calling on the government to act saying that “UK law is failing to protect performers’ rights” because existing copyright law does not offer sufficient protection as AI “reproduces performances without generating a recording or a copy.”

Ninety-four percent of its members think the government should introduce new laws to regulate deepfake technology and make it illegal for an individuals’ image to be manipulated using AI without their consent. And 93 percent think the government should introduce new legal protections for artists so that a performance cannot be reproduced by AI technology without their consent.

The union is, therefore, recommending a host of measures to the UK government including legislative reform and investment in research to better understand the impact of AI on performers and the entertainment industry, and protect it.

The government, however, told the BBC it wanted to ensure AI was regulated in a way that encouraged innovation “while protecting people and our fundamental values.”

“Our national AI strategy has a ten-year vision for seizing the opportunities of the technology and we will set out our approach to its governance in due course,” a government statement said.

Equity said in its report: “We believe that AI used ethically and responsibly has positive potential for performers’ livelihoods, the wider economy and society.”

“However, these technological developments are already replacing jobs for Equity members. Moreover, AI’s increasing capacity to clone human voices presents a substantial risk that the voice owner will either be under-compensated or not paid at all.”