Signal of change

Respeecher is a start-up that creates an all-purpose AI voice platform in which they can envisage a future in which famous actors and ordinary content creators deploy cloned versions of their voices. It raises the possibility of films, TV shows, and podcasts spoken entirely by voice clones. These possibilities raises a couple of issues. Firstly, Jones signed over the rights to his voice to Disney and Respeecher. Meaning that this new age of AI reincarnation will mean new revenue streams for both living creatives and the estates of those who have died. If the price is right, Elvis's voice can be used as a character in a future Disney animated film. Secondly, paying to use a dead person's voice means that the living human actor will be deprived of the chance to take on certain roles. Such as the Darth Vader one. We're witnessing the birth of entirely new art forms. But more controversy, including criticism from marginalized creatives, surely lies ahead.

-JF
03-Jan-'23

For example, it will soon be illegal in Texas for YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram to ban videos from white supremacists or ISIS. In fact, with a few limited exceptions, any content moderation these sites do, including "de-boosting" or "de-monetizing" videos or posts, will open them up to being sued in Texas. In effect, they are legally compelled not to curate their sites in that state.

Signal of change

As Texas takes the lead to get rid of "the special immunity of tech companies," known as Section 230 of the Communications and Decency Act of 1996, and the First Amendment right of tech and social media companies, many others will follow or adopt the HB20 law. The consequence will be that in many more cities, social media companies will be provented the right to decide what content they want to host and what content they prefer to ban. Furthermore, providing the governments the right to compel social media companies to publish or leave up content even though they find them offensive or objectionable. No curation of sites means freedom of hate speech and no power over oneself property. In this case, it can be either a social media platform or a website. Ultimately, when the government starts attacking censorship and making social media companies publish content they would otherwise ban, people and social media companies will start looking for other ways that are not open or regulated by the governments to enjoy their experience online. 

-JF
06-Feb-'23

While the outcome of these lawsuits is anything but certain, they indicate a groundswell in action being taken against companies like Stability AI. Artists everywhere are furious that their work is being used to train AI algorithms without being asked first or reasonably compensated. But whether this could successfully be argued that it infringes on copyright may be more complex than one might think. For instance, creators of AI art tools say that they are protected under the U.S. fair use laws. More so, there is the fact that the AI dataset is simply indexed to the internet, and it never stores copyrighted images or texts.

Signal of change

filing a class-action lawsuit claiming the machine learning systems infringe millions of artists' rights will set a precedent in the nascent field. Knowing how deeply exploitative AI media model practices are with no legal precedent to set means that these models can do whatever they want without any consequence. Trying to make AI fair and eth­i­cal for every­one is going to be challenging. However, without it, does this mean the traditional artists are out of work, or will this be the beginning of new job applications? Such as conventional artists needed for AI database training. Whether the promise made by companies like Stability AI to work with artists to find new ways to reimburse artists for the use of their work is held is still to be seen if it benefits both parties. 

-JF
9-Feb-'23